
I ^ ~> •> 



MECHANICS AND FAITH 



A STUDY 



OF 



SPIRITUAL TRUTH IN NATURE 



BY 



CHARLES TALBOT PORTER 

U 




NEW YORK & LONDON 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 

@;^£ .^nickerbotktr |prcss 
1886 






COPYRIGHT BY 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS 
i88s 



Rt.f\acemen"f Co^\x 



Press of 

G. P. Putnam's Sons 

New York 



How exquisitely the individual mind 
(And the progressive powers perhaps no less 
Of the whole species) lo the external world 
Is fitted : — And how exquisitely, too, 
Theme this but litile heard of among men. 
The external world is fitted to the mind. 

— Wordsworth, 



PREFACE. 



What is known to us as matter, in its various forms and 
states, is commonly conceived of as something quite 
distinct from force. In this inquiry, matter will be con- 
sidered to be force itself, manifested in endless diversity 
of adaptation to our nature and wants. 

The exposition of this view will not, however, be 
reached until an advanced stage of the discussion. Until 
then it will be necessary to conform the language em- 
ployed to the prevailing idea of a distinction between 
matter and force. Otherwise the truths which are pre- 
sented in the earlier papers would not be conveyed with 
clearness. 

This conception of the identity of matter with force 
must be regarded as fundamental in true philosophy. 
In every department of thought there is to be observed 
a reluctance to recognize the fact that we are surrounded 
by mysteries. While in reality all things pass the limit 
of our understanding, there are not wanting minds which 
refuse to confess that any thing does so. 

Instructors generally feel called upon to explain every 
thing. In order that they may seem to do this, they 
assume imaginary starting-points, which, having been 
devised either by themselves or by their instructors, are 
of course quite within their comprehension. 



VI PREFACE. 

The great starting-point is the material atom. The be- 
lief in the existence of the material atom, in the large ex- 
tent to which this gross conception still continues to be 
held, is the present bane of philosophy. This belief gives 
to physical science its materialistic tendency. It provides 
a limit at which thought can be arrested. It opens the 
door to the revival of the heathen conception of the atom, 
as self-existent and possessed of inherent activities. 
Many minds seem inclined to rest upon this conception 
of the material atom, as something that can be compre- 
hended, and beyond which they feel no impulse or incli- 
nation to look. 

Much vagueness of thought prevails respecting the 
nature and functions of '' the reason," Metaphysicians 
have described the reason to be that faculty by which 
the mind intuitively apprehends universal and necessary 
truths. The process of reasoning is devolved upon an- 
other imaginary faculty, wdiich is distinguished as the 
understanding. Since those faculties have no existence, 
except that which the metaphysicians have given them, it 
would seem as if these authorities ought to be able to fix 
their respective functions. But this distinction between 
the reason and the understanding does not make its way 
into popular use. For example, in our English version of 
St. Mark's Gospel, the Christ says : " Are ye so without 
understanding also? Do ye not perceive?" Then fol- 
lows a statement of a necessary and universal truth as a 
subject of apprehension by the understanding. On the 
other hand, the popular mind can never accept the idea 
that the reason is not employed in reasoning. '' Under- 
standing " is a term which is now little used ; but we hear 
continually of the reason, which, at least in popular esti- 
mation, is clothed with a vague and boundless authority. 



PREFACE. vii 

The distinction between these terms seems to be merely 
a difference about words. It will be the purpose here to 
fix attention upon realities. The activity of the mind, in 
its unity, in reasoning, will be put in the place of these 
objective terms. Our view will be made distinct, and it is 
believed also correct, if we shall conceive of all that has 
been embraced under either of these terms as being the 
exercise of the mind, in the judicial modes of its activity. 

With the exception of abstract or ideal truths we dis- 
cover nothing by the process of reasoning. In reasoning 
we trace relations, discriminate, generalize, conclude, and 
so determine our belief. These judgments we are form- 
ing continually, and we always must be forming them, on 
the basis of what appear to us as facts in consciousness. 

Here arises the liability to error. This liability to error 
is of two kinds. In the first place, there is probably no 
one who is not, in a greater or lesser degree, affected by 
preconceptions or erroneous habits of thought, usually the 
result of education, so as to be liable to arrive at conclu- 
sions which are not warranted by the facts observed. And, 
secondly, it is obvious that, in order to form a correct 
conclusion by the judicial activity of the mind, there must 
be present in consciousness all the facts, and nothing else. 
Otherwise, the possession of a perfectly judicial mind, or 
a mind capable of giving to every fact seen in conscious- 
ness its due weight, would be of no avail. 

Force, Truth, Beauty, and Love are the four spiritual 
realities which, in their unity, interpenetrate, if indeed 
they do not constitute, all material forms of being. Of 
these, love will be found to be the single primary reality, 
although, on account of its underlying position, it must 
be the last to be reached in any investigation. Force, 
truth, and beauty, in nature, are the manifestations or 
expressions of love. 



Vlll PREFA CE. 

These spiritual realities are revealed directly to the 
spirit of man, while the forms Avithin which they are 
contained are made known to him through his physical 
organs of perception. 

For the sake of clearness, our perceptions may be con- 
ceived of as being of two kinds, namely, those through 
which we are made aware of the existence of what are 
termed material forms of being, and those through which 
we are made aware of the existence of the spiritual reali- 
ties which are manifested to us through these forms, or of 
which these forms are to us the sensible expression. 

If these spiritual realities in fact exist, then it is evident 
that they must all be apprehended by us, equally at least 
with the physical forms, which then appear only as the 
media for their manifestation, or the concrete mode of 
their expression, adapted to our physical nature, if we 
would avoid forming partial and superficial conclusions. 

It is throuo"h the recoo;nition of the truths above ex- 
pressed that the mind becomes able to perceive the har- 
mony that exists between reason and faith. 

I have endeavored to reach these truths and to show 
this harmony by the aid, primarily, of mechanical science 
and the analogies which this science affords. As such an 
effort, these papers are submitted to the judgment of 
sincere men. 



SUBJECTS. 



Introductory ..... 

The Unseen ...... 

The Criterion of Truth . 

Superstition 

The Judicial Spirit .... 
The Unity of the Mind 
Mechanical Science and Rationalism 

Revelation 

The Revelation of Objects of Sense 
Cooperation ...... 

The Revelation of Mechanical Truth 
The Revelation of Ideal Truth 

Materialism 

The Revelation of Force 

The Unity of Physical and Spiritual Truth 

The Perception of Spiritual Realities by Recognitio 

The Revelation of God 

The Verbal Revelation 

Perfection 

Natural Religion 

Beauty . 

Suffering 

Faith 

Prayer . 



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INTRODUCTORY. 



At first view, mechanics and faith would seem to most 
persons, perhaps to every one, to express the opposite 
extremes of thought Their association would appear to 
be the bringing together of subjects which are quite in- 
congruous, between which no relations can exist. 

A little reflection, however, will enable us to perceive 
that this view cannot be the correct one, but must be 
only an effect of our conventional habits of thought — 
habits that have been formed by a false education. 

No incongruities are to be discovered in nature, but 
everywhere harmonies instead. No unrelated things 
exist, but all things are seen to be bound together by 
innumerable relations. If, then, mechanics and faith are 
realities, if one or the other of them be not a mere fig- 
ment of the brain, it is certain that they cannot be incon- 
gruous and unrelated, and it is possible that harmonies 
and relations of the most perfect and intimate nature may 
exist between them. 

There is also another line of thought on which we are 
impelled to the same a priori conclusion. This reasoning, 
briefly stated, is as follows: 

Faith is held by the Christian to be the highest spiritual 
attainment of man, and an attainment that is ultimately 
to be reached by all men on the earth. This he believes 
to be the purpose of God. If this be so, every thing must 



2 IN TR OD UC rOR V. 

have a direct relation to this supreme result. It is not 
supposable that any thing can in reaUty antagonize this 
result. No incongruity can exist between faith and any 
other reality whatever. On the contrary, it must of 
necessity be assumed that, in the universal scheme of 
things, every thing has been adapted to promote the 
growth of faith in the soul of man. Whenever the real 
nature and legitimate influence of any part of this scheme 
comes to be perceived, and just in the degree that this 
nature and influence are perceived, we should expect this 
supreme adaptation to appear, and to grow in distinctness 
and prominence. 

In these papers the attempt will be made to show the 
existence of such a relation between mechanics and faith, 
— a relation which, however we may have been taught to 
disregard it, is one which the foregoing considerations 
make it evident that we ought to look for, and which we 
may find to be of the greatest consequence. 

In a book of travel in England by an American scholar^ 
published a few years ago, a book of singular interest on 
account of the charm of association with which every spot 
is invested, a quotation is made from an address delivered 
by Robert Stephenson, on the completion of the central 
towers of the Britannia Tubular Bridge, across the Menai 
Straits, as follows : 

'* Mr. Stephenson said : * Let them not, any more than 
himself, and all who have been connected with this great 
work, forget that, whatever may have been, or whatever 
may be, the ability, science, intelligence and zeal brought 
to bear on the creature's work, it is to the Creator that 
we should give praise and thanksgiving ; for without His 
blessing on our works how can we expect them to pros- 
per?' He fully believed that Providence had been 



INTRODUCTORY. 3 

pleased to smile on the undertaking, and he hoped 
that they all with him would endeavor to obtain those 
smiles." 

Upon this our author remarks: '' It is pleasant to see 
so simple a faith in a mind devoted to so material a science 
as mechanics." 

This amiable comment, so far as it characterizes me- 
chanical science, may, without doubt, be taken to repre- 
sent the manner in which this science has generally been 
regarded, or, it would be more correct to say, has been 
disregarded, by men who are ranked as thinkers. They, 
whom the world delights to honor with this name, how- 
ever widely they may differ on other points, would doubt- 
less be found to agree in regarding mechanics as a science 
altogether material, devotion to which is especially unfa- 
vorable to the growth of faith. 

And yet no view could be more erroneous. Our teach- 
ers, from causes which we will not stop to seek for now, 
have here overlooked what was especially entitled to their 
attention. They have committed the common mistake, 
and one of which they would consider themselves above 
all men to be incapable, of looking only at the outside 
of things, of permitting the thought to rest on that which 
meets the senses. This error of arresting the thought is 
one of degree, and in one degree or another it is more 
general than is commonly imagined. It lies at the 
bottom of materialism, and hides God from the sight of 
men. 

Mechanical science deals with matter, although, as we 
shall see, not primarily ; but it is not itself material. On 
the contrary, it is spiritual in its nature and in all its 
influences. And precisely on account of this singular 
duality, because while spiritual in itself, it deals with 
matter in all its states and forms, mechanical science is 



4 IN TR OD UC TOR Y. 

also singularly practical, and so is adapted to correct the 
tendency to erroneous habits of thought and visionary 
speculations, of what character soever these may be. 

The adaptation of mechanical science to meet the fal- 
lacies of materialism is so admirable, that the complete 
eradication of this noxious weed from the fields of philo- 
sophic thought may be regarded as its special ofifice. 

The effect of mechanical science on our physical well- 
being, great and beneficent as this is, shall be surpassed in 
intrinsic importance by its healthful influence on thought, 
on belief, on morals, and generally on the spiritual nature 
of man. Indeed, this influence has been widely felt al- 
ready, although hitherto various causes have combined to 
prevent its distinct recognition. 

This influence of mechanical science is far-reaching. It 
is of a nature to aid directly in establishing in the mind 
the solid foundation of faith. Its immediate tendency is 
to dispel the idea of antagonism between reason and faith, 
to show that antagonism exists only between reason and 
credulity, and to vindicate the authority of faith over its 
own vast region. It shows that faith is consistent with 
the highest intelligence, that all true philosophy leads up 
to faith, and that the larger and more complete the com- 
prehension of truth becomes, the more absolute faith 
must become. 

These statements, on their bare presentation, will natu- 
rally be received with more or less incredulity by most 
educated persons, whose studies and habits of thought 
have generally been on lines far removed from those 
which they are now asked to follow. In presenting them 
the full burden of proof is necessarily assumed. 

In the following papers I have attempted to maintain 
these propositions, and to show the practical application 
of mechanical science to this higher use. I have endeav- 



IN TROD UCTOR Y. 5 

ored to exhibit the intimate connection that exists be- 
tween those forms of truth which are known as spiritual 
truth and those forms of truth which are embraced in the 
term '' mechanical truth," or rather to show the essential 
unity of these varied modes of expression of universal 
truth. I am, however, deeply sensible of the contrast 
between the greatness of the subject and the necessarily 
limited character of my treatment of it. 



THE UNSEEN. 



Above all other employments of a secular character, the 
study of mechanical science, using the term in its largest 
meaning, operates to familiarize the mind with the reality 
and the controlling nature of unseen things. 

In this respect mechanical science occupies a peculiar 
position. On the one hand, it differs from the other 
physical sciences, in that these terminate in observations 
on matter itself ; on the other hand, it differs from pure 
mathematics, in that this contemplates abstract or ideal 
conditions only. When physical science is extended to 
the consideration of the laws which govern the action of 
matter, and when mathematics is considered in its ma- 
terial applications, then the two unite, and constitute the 
various branches of mechanical science. 

This science deals, primarily, not with matter, but with 
force, — as these are commonly distinguished from each 
other, — with the unseen and the eternal; and in its study 
and its practice it is with this first spiritual reality that 
men are brought into habitual association. 

Among the things which are earliest taught to the 
student in any branch of mechanics is, to put down on 
paper imaginary points and lines, which are called centres 
and centre lines. These are not seen in any construction, 
but they are the fundamental elements of every construc- 
tion. They are the points in which forces are properly 

6 



THE UNSEEN. J 

conceived to be gathered, and the lines along which forces 
act — in which these are transmitted or resisted. Mechani- 
cal structures and movements are primarily represented by 
diagrams consisting only of centres and centre lines, to 
which, in the case of moving machines or bodies, there are 
added lines of motion, which represent the successive 
positions of the centres or of the bodies to which motion 
is imparted. 

These points and lines are objects of purely mental 
perception. They have no material existence. But in the 
mind of the designer of any machine or mechanical 
structure they must always precede the idea of matter, 
and determine the order of its distribution or arrange- 
ment. 

A familiar illustration of this requirement is afforded in 
the eccentric crank, by which the valves of steam-engines 
are commonly actuated. No eye ever saw the centre of 
an eccentric, nor the circular path in which this centre 
moves. Both the centre and its path are hidden in the 
solid interior of the shaft. But in every diagram of 
movements derived from an eccentric, the centre and its 
path are the essential things, the only things pertaining 
to the eccentric itself which need to be represented. 

Following upon these purely ideal points and lines, 
there comes the study of mechanical laws, in obedience to 
which force centres in these points, and is exerted or is 
transmitted along these lines. 

These laws, as they are termed for the sake of brevity, 
are merely the statements or expressions of the effects 
which force is observed invariably to produce upon mat- 
ter, under given conditions. We have conferred upon us 
the ability to ascertain these laws, to determine their 
existence as invariable modes of action. We are thus 
enabled to conform our own purposes to them, and so to 



8 THE UNSEEN. 

make matter, in its various forms in which force resides, 
minister to our ends. 

The investigation of these laws, or of the observed 
effects that are produced by the action of force upon 
matter, under the endlessly varied conditions which are 
found to exist, constitutes the sciences of statics and 
dynamics, or of the laws of force at rest and of force in 
motion ; including the subdivisions of these sciences 
which treat of the effects of force at rest and in motion 
upon matter in its fluid and gaseous states/ 

The observation is an obvious one respecting these 
mechanical laws, that they are universal. They stand 
calm in eternal unchangeableness. Man is free to obey or 
to disregard them at his will. At the same time perfect 
obedience to every one, so far as it maybe involved in his 
particular work, is the condition of his success, and this 
condition he cannot evade in any way nor in the least 
degree. 

Considering these uniformities in the action or effects 
of force as laws, we may say, not only that they must be 
obeyed by us, but that God has imposed them equally 
upon Himself. Precisely as our work must be, so we 
find all His works to be, conformable to the requirements 
of physical law. Whether we consider the sublime 
mechanism of the universe, or the structure of the most 
minute organism, or the action of any natural agency, we 
everywhere behold the perfect illustration of those prin- 
ciples of construction and operation which must be illus- 
trated also in our own work. 

But the mind which has received a development in any 
degree symmetrical, in which the spiritual sense or insight 
has been cultivated, or, rather, in which this has not been 

^ The term "dynamics" is used here in its limited and more familiar 
sense. 



THE UNSEEN. 9 

obscured, cannot rest here upon the idea of law. Such 
a mind perceives that to do this would be to remain 
satisfied with an entirely superficial view of the subject. 
It can affix no intelligible meaning to the term '' natural 
law," or 'Maw of nature," until it has arrived at the truth, 
that what we for convenience express by this phrase is in 
reality nothing less than the changeless will of God — the 
uniform mode of the Divine activity, — and the mode in 
which we also must act, unless either ignorantly or pur- 
posely we attempt to resist the will of God in the physical 
modes of its expression, when our purposes must fail — our 
efforts come to naught. Matter obeys our will, unless we 
require it to disobey the Supreme Will. To this Will, 
therefore, in order that we shall accomplish any thing 
whatever by the use or employment of matter, our will 
must be perfectly conformed, so far at least as the occa- 
sion calls for its exercise. 

The recognition of the great truth, that the so-termed 
laws of nature are modes of Divine activity, has been 
hindered by the fact that this truth does not consist with 
the false traditional conception of the Deity ; which has 
represented Him as a passive Being, existing above 
nature, and superior to law, governing the world through 
intermediate agencies, which the heathen call inferior 
divinities, and theologians call second causes. More- 
over, the idea of uniformity of action, in the absolute 
sense in which this is to be observed in nature, has 
been regarded as something not conceivable in a Being 
possessing freedom of will, and supposed to be influenced 
by a special motive in each particular case of His dealings 
with men. 

It has been the uniform experience, that physical dis- 
coveries show our previous notions respecting the subject- 
matter of such discoveries to have been both mistaken 



lO THE UNSEEN. 

and inadequate. In no other case is this effect of physi- 
cal discovery exhibited in so striking a manner as it is in 
the correction and enlargement of our conception of God, 
which has been compelled by the growth of mechanical 
science. This conception, so far as the present connec- 
tion calls for its statement, is that of a Being whose uni- 
versal presence fills all things, who is infinitely near to 
every creature, iji whom, as expressed in language which 
we intuitively recognise to be inspired, '' we live, and 
move, and have our being," and whose dealings with men 
must be marked by the same universal and eternal unifor- 
mity of motive and conduct which is manifested in nature. 
The conception of God, of which the above is a partial 
statement, underlies modern religious thought, and con- 
tributes principally to its healthful growth. 

Let it be repeated, that the mind in its healthy devel- 
opment demands here something to rest upon more 
substantial than empty conventional expressions, and it 
cannot be satisfied until it has arrived at this sublime 
truth, that the physical laws which we must obey are 
the changeless modes of the Divine activity. 

Now here is a wonderful thing. Here is a sense in 
which God lifts us up to Himself, in which we are ad- 
mitted to share His thoughts, and to give effect to our 
free wills, by harmonizing them with His will. In every 
successful mechanical work there is a unity of purpose 
between ourselves and our Maker. In the production of 
all these we become co-workers with Him, — yea, the 
voluntary agents by whom He accomplishes His purposes. 

When Kepler reflected on the laws of planetary motion 
which he had discovered or demonstrated, he was over- 
come with awe, and exclaimed : '' Now, O God, think I 
Thy thoughts after Thee." But certainly the same re- 
flection is pertinent in the case of every universal truth 



THE UNSEEN. II 

discovered by, or, correctly speaking, revealed to man. 
That such a reflection is not always made is only because 
we are not possessed of Kepler's reverent spirit. 

Here, then, at the outset we find a close and vital con- 
nection existing between man and the Infinite Engineer 
of the universe, and we discover one respect or particular 
in which, beyond question, God has created man in His 
own image. 

We have, thus, in a very general manner, considered 
two subjects — namely, centres and lines of force and mo- 
tion, and physical law ; but we have not yet contem- 
plated any reality. We have only observed modes of ac- 
tion. We are now to be brought face to face with the first 
reality, and we shall perceive it to be entirely spiritual. 

Within all the forms of what we call matter, the first 
reality which our spiritual sense perceives is force. In 
some unknown way force acts upon matter, as the 
medium of its manifestation. But what force is, how it 
acts upon matter, or manifests itself through matter, what 
is the nature of the connection between them, or what is 
the essential nature of matter itself, all these are questions 
to which we can give no answer. We only know that 
matter, in the various states and forms in which we are 
acquainted with it, behaves, under the action of force, in 
a manner that is invariable under the same conditions. 

Thus we are confronted with a mystery. The very first 
reality, the existence of which we are compelled to ac- 
knowledge, about which our minds cannot admit a doubt, 
is something of a nature not capable of being perceived 
through our physical organs. We are made aware of its 
existence only through a spiritual sense. We may in- 
dulge in speculations concerning the nature of force, but 
we can know nothing about it, beyond the fact of its ex- 
istence, thus revealed to us. 



12 THE UNSEEN. 

Upon this reality the attention of the engineer must 
continually be fixed. He is always in its presence, but 
he cannot behold it. It serves him faithfully, but when 
he w^ould question it it is dumb. To the engineer force is 
at once the most familiar of all things, and the mystery of 
mysteries. With this omnipresent energy, which eludes 
his senses, and is seen only in its effects, he has to deal 
continually. Matter has significance for him only as the 
habitation of force. He is accustomed and required 
habitually to look within all material forms, and to con- 
sider only the forces, in their action and counteraction, 
which either abide in or are transmitted through these 
material forms, in their states of rest or of motion. 

A familiar illustration of the extent to which engineers 
have become able to .dispense with matter, and yet to 
secure the forces which alone they require, is furnished in 
the construction of modern railway bridges. 

In these structures the requirement is, that the heaviest 
trains, moving at the most rapid speeds, and thus transfer- 
ring their weight rapidly from one point of the structure 
to another, shall cross spans which often need to be of 
considerable length, and also that such trains, coming 
from opposite directions, and moving at these speeds, shall 
pass each other upon these bridges, and that the stresses 
and shocks thus produced shall be repeated incessantly, 
and yet the bridges shall remain entirely safe 

We glide over them, and they are so firm that the 
change in the reverberation from that which is heard 
when the train is moving over the solid ground is hardly 
observable, but when we look at the structures, we see 
that, as compared with bridges of former times, which 
were intended to bear only insignificant weights, in addi- 
tion to their own, they seem almost like spiders' webs. 

In the construction of these bridges, every stress that 



THE UNSEEN. 1 3 

can come upon them is exactly known, and is met in the 
most advantageous practicable direction, and with a resist- 
ance equal to several times its greatest possible intensity. 
That material is employed in which the resisting force is 
known to be contained in the highest degree, and this 
material is so disposed that not a pound of it is wasted. 
Each member of the structure has its special function, and 
is designed and proportioned in such a manner, that the 
amount of resisting force residing in every part of it bears 
a uniform ratio to the amount of stress that can come 
upon such part. 

The history of the growth of engineering skill, and of 
the advance in our knowledge of the action of force, and 
of the means and methods of employing and resisting it, 
which have made such structures possible, is more won- 
derful than the stories in the Arabian Nights ; and this 
because we have always to realize the amazing fact that 
this history is true, and its truth constitutes that supreme 
element of wonderfulness, which in the tales of Oriental 
imagination is lacking. 

The most comprehensive definition of force that men 
have been able to frame, and one which seems inclusive 
of all its observed effects, is, a cause producing or tending 
to produce motion. Although this appears to be the 
utmost that we can know about it, still its effects have 
been made the subject of grand generalizations. 

It has been established that force is capable of a great 
variety of manifestations. These manifestations of force 
through matter are known as energy. They appear as 
statical or potential, and as dynamical energy, as light, as 
heat, as electricity and magnetism, and as chemical and 
vegetable and vital activity, all of which are forms of 
energy. Energy has been shown to be indestructible, and 
to exist in a total degree or amount that is not capable of 



14 THE UNSEEN. 

variation. No existing energy can ever cease to manifest 
itself in some way. It passes freely from one form of 
manifestation to another; its disappearance in any one 
form being attended by its appearance, in precisely equal 
amounts, in other forms. 

Force is the sole cause of physical phenomena. All 
rest of matter, and all uniform motion — which is rest in 
its true sense of undisturbed condition, — result from the 
equilibrium of counteracting forces ; while changes from a 
state of rest to one of motion, or from one degree of motion 
to another, are produced by disturbances of this equilib- 
rium, and tend towards its restoration. 

The beginning of the cultivation of mechanics, in its 
various branches, as the science of force, marked an era of 
peculiar importance in the progress that mankind is 
making in civilization. The recognition of force, as a 
spiritual reality, manifested through the medium of physi- 
cal forms, which is the characteristic of mechanics, re- 
quired a certain degree of spiritual insight, and constituted 
the first advance made by men from that primitive per- 
ceptive condition, in which thought is limited to the 
material forms themselves, as these are disclosed to us 
through our organs of sense. 

Thus the recognition of force was the first step toward 
the scientific recognition of all spiritual realities, which are 
manifested to us through the same physical medium, and 
of the Infinite Being in whom all these consist. And be- 
cause it was the first step in this advance toward the 
perception of all spiritual realities in their unity, it was by 
far the most important one, as upon it all succeeding 
steps depend. It was also the step which was most 
slowly and gradually taken, and which it was necessary 
should be dwelt upon for a considerable time, in order that 



THE UNSEEN. 1 5, 

the mind might be prepared for those which were to fol- 
low it, in the natural progress of thought. Thus by 
mechanical science a wide door has been opened into 
the realm of the unseen. 

At present, scientific thinkers generally are accustomed 
to stop with the contemplation of force. In point of fact, 
as will be shown, force is not to be generically distinguished 
from the other spiritual realities of truth, beauty, and love, 
which are equally manifested to us through the same 
universal medium of the physical creation, and of whose 
existence we are made aware through a similar mode of 
revelation. But from the point of view to which men are 
now by their education generally confined, force appears 
to be the only spiritual reality that is manifested to us in 
this way. It is the only one with which we are conceived 
to be immediately and practically concerned, and so it is 
to-day imagined to be scientific to limit the attention 
altogether to force. 

This marks the stage of mental or spiritual growth at 
which mankind have arrived. In this stage scientific 
thought is quite occupied with this first unseen reality, to 
the contemplation of which, in its grander features, men 
are only beginning to be accustomed, and which must be 
relied upon by us in all the activity of our lives. In re- 
ality, our connection with force, and our dependence upon 
it, are not any more close or more absolute than are our 
connection with, and our dependence upon, all other 
spiritual realities ; but our relations to it have hitherto 
seemed more palpable than those relations do which 
require for their discernment a still more spiritual vision. 

Generalizing from the observed uniformity of the action 
of force, men have formulated the expression, "" natural 
lawT In returning to this subject, the object is to call 
attention more pointedly to the disposition, now com- 



1 6 . THE UNSEEN. 

monly to be observed, not merely to rest upon this mere 
phrase, but to give to this phrase in some sort an objec- 
tive character, to regard it as if it expressed some sub- 
stantive reaHty ; when in fact it expresses and can 
express nothing except the uniform mode of action of 
a Being. 

This disposition presents an instructive phenomenon. 
Scientific minds are sometimes said to be destitute of im- 
agination, but it will be difficult to find another work of 
the human imagination that is worthy to be ranked with 
this creation. The worship of law is scientific idolatry; 
or, the adoration of an image created by men themselves, 
to satisfy an instinctive want. 

We begin here to observe the relation that the physical 
creation bears to the human race as its educator. Its 
office as our teacher respecting all material forms of be- 
ing, and also in the development of our senses, and of all 
our physical and mental powers and activities, which are 
employed in the acquisition of the knowledge of these 
forms of being, and in the utilization of them which we 
have evidently been intended to make, — all this is of course 
obvious. But beyond this, we already perceive that it is 
from the manifestations of it in the physical creation that 
we obtain our knowledge of force, and receive the pro- 
digious increase in our spiritual development that this 
knowledge brings to us. This may be termed *' the min- 
istry of force." As we advance in this discussion, higher 
and higher exhibitions will appear of the educational 
work which the universe by which we are surrounded has 
been adapted to perform. These educational influences 
we shall find to be addressed to, and to employ and 
develop, every mode of our spiritual activity. 

An important lesson may here be noted. The argu- 
ment from analogy rests upon the unity between spiritual 



THE UNSEEN. 1/ 

and physical being, as proceeding from a common source. 
Upon the assumption of the existence of this unity, and 
upon the evident fact that spirit is a higher order of being 
than matter, the physical creation affords strong presump- 
tive evidence of the immortality of the soul. 

A remarkable identity is observed between matter and 
force in this, that the former is, like the latter, indestructi- 
ble. While subject, like force, to endless changes of state 
and form, no particle of matter can cease to exist. This 
is established by universal and familiar proofs. Then, 
a fortiori, the soul of man, though likewise changing its 
state, cannot cease to exist. 

While to uninstructed minds the constantly present 
phenomena of the decay and disappearance of matter sug- 
gest by association the idea that our conscious being may 
cease in like manner, it is deeply interesting to observe 
that, on the very first step towards a knowledge of physi- 
cal truth, this suggestion vanishes, and the true analogies 
of immortality appear in its place. 

Thus from a consideration of the known harmonies of 
the creation the conclusion is compelled, that the idea of 
the cessation of our being in annihilation, that idea which 
fills us with distress, from which we instinctively recoil, is, 
like a mistaken mechanical conception, only a figment of 
the brain, which represents no reality, a shade that van- 
ishes at the first dawn of light ; and that the opposite idea 
of our immortality, the idea to which we instinctively 
cling, which fills the healthy soul with gladness, which is 
the balm for all wounds, and in which is found the solu- 
tion of all mysteries that would otherwise darken our 
earthly being, is true. It cannot be that the conscious 
spirit perishes, and matter and force endure. 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 



In the preceding paper, I have attempted to give a brief 
exposition of the nature of mechanical science. We are 
next led to consider, in the same general manner, the 
character of the influence which this science is adapted 
to exert. 

It will be found, on making proper inquiry, that 
mechanical science constitutes the most important aux- 
iliary to verbal revelation, in disclosing to mankind the 
real criterion of truth. In this work, two things are neces- 
sary. Not only must the criterion of truth be shown to 
men, but in addition to this the minds of men must be 
prepared to admit it. Men must be educated to recog- 
nize, to accept, and to appeal to this criterion, as the sole 
and infallible test of all truth whatever. 

For the attainment of this result, much more, indeed, 
is required than mere education, as this term is commonly 
understood. A radical change, the character of which 
will be indicated presently, needs to be effected in the 
tendency and disposition of our nature. This change re- 
quires for its accomplishment a strong agency, operating 
through a long period of time, and producing its effects in 
an almost imperceptible manner. Mechanical science is 
such an agency. This change in the character and direc- 
tion of thought is, in an eminent degree, the work of the 
science of force. 

i8 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 1 9 

The problem of the ages has been this : How is truth to 
be distinguished from error ? What test shall be applied 
to the notions that men form in their minds, in order to 
determine whether or not there exist any realities to which 
these notions correspond? How is it to be determined 
what we shall, and what we shall not believe? 

With respect to all beliefs, to those of a physical and 
those of a spiritual nature alike, if we except the geometry 
and mechanics that were known to them, and the influ- 
ence of which we have reason to believe was very limited, 
the ancient heathen world knew of no criterion except 
human authority. The same is true of modern heathen 
races. We limit our view to the most intellectual of all. 
In the teachings of the great minds of the Grecian race, 
there is presented a curious medley of inspired truths, 
mistaken conceptions and frivolous absurdities, all which 
were received by the disciples of the philosopher with 
the same implicit belief, on his authority alone. Ipse 
dixit was the only proposition that needed to be proved. 

Under the conditions of heathen society, this reliance 
on human authority was a logical necessity. No inquiry 
had been instituted respecting the source of truth. 
Human thought had not ventured so far as this. The 
human mind was the only source of beliefs. These were 
wholly derived from human teaching. So it will be per- 
ceived that human authority afforded the only criterion 
■of their correctness. The mind must always be satisfied 
by an appeal to the source of its belief. Beyond this 
there can be no appeal. 

Any departure from this established usage involved a 
radical change in the mode and direction of thought, 
Such a change must be effected by some means, as the 
•essential prerequisite to a true civilization. 

This change is from that habit of thought in which the 



20 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

mind is satisfied by an appeal to the source of its belief^ 
whatever, as the result of previous influences, that source 
may happen to be, to that contrary habit of thought, in 
which the mind seeks for and recognizes the single source 
of truth, which then becomes the only source of its belief,, 
and to which, in all cases, its appeal is directly made. We 
shall see that the source of truth, thus either consciously 
or unconsciously recognized, can be nothing less than the 
Infinite Being. 

This change in the habit of thought is still far from 
being completely accomplished. It is resisted by subtle 
and powerful influences. It advances so slowly that it 
seems sometimes to retrograde. On the whole, its prog- 
ress has been so partial that, when one contemplates the 
extent of that which is yet to be made, it seems to be 
only just begun. 

The various influences which oppose this transition from 
the one to the other of these modes of thought all have 
their root in a common weakness of our nature, which 
manifests itself in two apparently opposite ways. These 
are a disposition to assume, and a disposition to submit 
to, human authority in matters of belief. These are essen- 
tially the same disposition, the direction of its exhibition 
being determined by accidental conditions. Whichever 
of these forms this disposition may take, it shows its 
identity by appearing continually in both forms and in 
equal degree in the same individual. The severity with 
which submission is exacted from inferiors always cor- 
responds precisely with the servility with which it is ren- 
dered to superiors. 

However this weakness may manifest itself in any 
individual, or in any organization, whether in the dis- 
position to assume authority over behef, or in the disposi- 
tion to submit to such authority, in either case alike it 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 21 

involves an inability to perceive that, since the human 
mind cannot be the source of any truth, so it cannot be 
the legitimate authority for any belief. 

When, however, this fundamental truth has been appre- 
hended, then it at once becomes evident that in matters of 
belief all men stand on an equality, and have, in this re- 
spect of authority and submission, no relations towards 
one another, but the relations of each individual are 
immediately and directly with the source of truth. It 
also becomes evident that in this respect no distinction is 
to be drawn between physical and spiritual truths. The 
relations of the individual to the Infinite source of all 
truth are just as direct, and the absence of all relations 
towards his fellow-men is just as complete, in the case of 
spiritual truth as they obviously are in the case of physi- 
cal truth. 

The clear perception of the immediate and exclusive 
relation of each individual to the source of truth renders 
it impossible for men either to assume or to submit to 
authority in any matters of belief, for it is then obvious 
that all assumption by man of authority over either the 
physical or the spiritual belief of his fellow-men is absurd^ 
and the exercise of such authority is a usurpation. 

This fundamental change in the mode and habit of 
thought has been, and still is, and must continue to be 
until such change has been completely made, dependent 
for its accomplishment very largely on the influence of 
mechanical science. 

The peculiar adaptation of mechanics to the task of 
delivering the mind from bondage to human authority, 
and of making the assumption of such authority ridicu- 
lous in the sight of all men, becomes manifest when we 
consider the nature of its methods. These methods are 
simply experiment and observation. In common with all 



22 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

true science, mechanical science has this characteristic, 
that its conclusions are derived from and are brought 
directly to the tests of experiment and observation, and 
are open to free criticism. 

Repeated experiment and observation constitute the 
only mode in which the teachings of mechanical science 
can be either established or assailed. The names of emi- 
nent discoverers or inventors are held in peculiar honor, 
it is true, but this is only because the truth and the value 
of their discoveries and inventions have been confirmed 
by every fresh investigation or application of them. For 
this reason alone these have secured the acceptance, and 
the minds through which they have been revealed have 
received the homage, of mankind. 

All experiments in mechanical science have for their 
object to determine the action of force under given con- 
ditions, or, the behavior of some form of matter under 
the action of force. The essential nature of these acts of 
experiment and observation seems hardly to have been 
realized. It is of the first importance that their real char- 
acter should be clearly apprehended. 

They are, in reality, nothing less than appeals made in 
the only possible way, and in the way obviously appointed, 
directly to the source of truth, to the Divine Being, who 
through this method reveals to man the changeless modes 
of his own beneficent activity, and also the modes in 
which man may cooperate with this activity.* Through 
ways of human devising the ancient augurs vainly pre- 
tended to inquire the will of imaginary divinities respecting 
particular human affairs. Now, employing in all sincerity 
the methods of divine provision, man seeks to learn the 

^ Those who cannot see experiment and observation to be such appeals to 
the Deity will, nevertheless, agree in regarding them as appeals made 
directly to nature herself. But this is an expression of which the only intel- 
ligible meaning is the one given in the text. 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 23 

will of God, in its uniform physical operation, and how he 
may direct his own will in conformity with it. The 
knowledge gained by these methods constitutes mechani- 
cal science. In the light of the present day, it is clearly 
seen that the intrusion of human authority here would be 
a profanation. 

But this has not been the case very long. This is a 
mental illumination, at which the civilized portion of the 
human race has only quite recently arrived. Until 
mechanical science had its birth, only two or three centu- 
ries ago, human authority continued to be the sole arbiter 
in all matters of physical belief. No other criterion of 
physical truth had been so much as imagined. From all 
antiquity submission to human authority in matters of 
physical belief had been the unquestioned habit of the 
unlearned and the learned alike. 

The consequences of this error have been far reaching. 
In contemplating them, we first observe the intimate na- 
ture of the connection that exists between physical and 
spiritual truth, a connection more intimate than any mind 
is probably able to conceive. In the darkness of the 
middle ages, the same deep obscurity rested upon both. 
While the real source of physical truth remained undis- 
closed, the growing tendency of human thought was to 
hide also the real source of spiritual truth. While sub- 
mission to human authority was universal with respect to 
physical belief, it was not possible that the contrary 
teaching of the Bible respecting spiritual belief could be 
comprehended. Opposite habits of thought respecting 
these two classes of truth could not coexist. In this fact, 
in which once lay the despair, now lies the hope, of the 
world. 

The habit of servile acceptance of the dictates of recog- 
nized human authority inevitably extended from physical 



24 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

to spiritual beliefs. In this habit is found the funda- 
mental reason, why the teachings of the Christ came, 
through century after century, to be more and more 
buried under human traditions and requirements, why the 
ultimate appeal came more and more to be made to 
human authorities, on all questions both of faith and of 
conduct, and why at last the Christian Church came to 
repeat the phenomenon of Judaism in the Messianic age, 
and to present the almost complete extinguishment of 
Divine truth in human defilement ; as human authority 
became more outrageous in its exactions, and submission 
to it became more degraded in its servility. 

Obtaining the position of general spiritual supremacy in 
Western Europe, and maintaining this position for many 
centuries, under these conditions of thought respecting 
physical beliefs, and when the source of physical truth was 
utterly unrecognized, it was unavoidable that the Church 
of Rome should come to hide, also, the real source of 
spiritual truth, and should limit appeal to human au- 
thority in matters of spiritual belief. Thus this amazing 
development of human authority over the consciences 
of men followed as the necessary consequence of the 
universal error of submission to human authority in 
respect to physical belief. 

It is true respecting most great movements that their 
origin is obscure. Fundamental causes must be in opera- 
tion for a long time before their effects begin to appear 
with distinctness. Mechanical science is probably to be 
regarded as one fruit of the Reformation, yet Galileo 
owned allegiance to the Church of Rome. History af- 
fords few sights more affecting than that of the spirit of 
free inquiry, embodied in Galileo, in the grasp of that 
power, the fundamental principle of which was, and is, 
unquestioning submission in every thing to constituted 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 25 

human authority. The spiritual awakening from this 
degradation was abrupt, and brought conflict and deso- 
lation in its train, and was followed by a strong and thus 
far a permanent reaction. The mechanical awakening 
was gradual, but has been steady and full of benefactions. 

The vital question common to both was, whether hu- 
man or Divine authority should receive the submission of 
the human mind. A century after Luther and Zwingli, 
the issue was at last distinctly joined between the dictum 
of Aristotle and the demonstration of Galileo, on the 
physical question, whether the velocity of a falling body 
did or did not vary according to the weight of the body. 
When this issue had been decided, submission to human 
authority respecting physical truth was at an end. By 
the same event, also, the enormous and hoary structure 
of spiritual pretension was undermined, and the work of 
emancipation from all forms of human authority was really 
begun. Such is the unity that connects physical and 
spiritual truth. 

The decision of this issue between human authority 
and the appeal by experiment marks the beginning of the 
great transition in the mode and direction of thought, so 
far as relates immediately to physical belief. It was more 
than an event. It was a prophecy. It foretold the time 
when thought shall be free, when human authority shall 
be driven out of the temple of spiritual truth, as well as 
out of the temple of physical truth ; when, universally and 
forever, for the knowledge of all truth, whether in its 
physical or in its spiritual forms, man, in his individual 
freedom, shall appeal to God alone. 

Even yet, however, such is the influence of conven- 
tional modes of education, men are not ready to recognize 
the unity of all truth, nor the common source of all well 
founded belief. Immature science and theology slowly 



26 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

emerging from gross mediaeval conceptions, mutually act- 
ing and reacting upon each other, have united to form the 
thought of the present age. On the one hand, students 
of science, confining their view to incomplete data, are 
unable, in what is termed matter, to see the principal 
thing, to behold the revelation of God. On the other 
hand, theologians fail to recognize the equal sacredness 
of all truth, as truth, whatever its form may be, and so 
they too are unable, in any proper sense, to behold in 
all physical being the Infinite and Universal Presence. 
Both have apparently yet to learn, or at least to realize, 
the great fact, that religion and philosophy are manifesta- 
tions of the same truth, expressions of' the nature of the 
same Being, between whom and each individual the rela- 
tion and connection are immediate and direct. 

Meanwhile the insidious disposition to assert and to 
submit to human authority is still seen, and its despotism 
is felt, in a greater or lesser degree, in all human systems of 
thought, and especially in religious systems. Its presence 
in the latter reveals the admixture of the human element, 
and pretty accurately indicates its proportion. 

It may be well to dwell somewhat longer upon the 
methods of scientific inquiry. The more familiar the mind 
becomes with these methods, the better prepared it will 
be to give proper consideration to the views which have 
already been presented, and especially to those which are 
to follow. 

Before proceeding further, however, attention should be 
drawn to the distinction which exists between the real 
nature of scientific methods, as this has been exhibited, 
and the grand consequences that have followed from the 
adoption of these methods, and that must still more 
largely attend their employment in the future, on the one 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 2 J 

hand, and, on the other hand, the frequently limited 
purposes, and even the contrary disposition, of individual 
inquirers. These often fail to recognize, they even deny, 
the existence of the God to whom, in fact, they continually 
appeal. This distinction is an obvious one, and cannot 
fail to be observed by every candid reader. 

All true science must be destitute of the reverential 
spirit, in the sense in which this term is commonly used. 
If a belief is venerable, that fact tends to raise the pre- 
sumption that it is unfounded, since the beliefs of more 
ignorant ages have generally been found to be so. The 
authority of Scripture is excluded, and this with evident 
propriety ; for the subject of inquiry is some form of 
physical truth, and, on any statement contained in the 
Scriptures that comes fairly within the scope of physical 
inquiry, their claim to be the Word of God is itself on 
trial. Before this test of agreement with the facts in 
nature, every religious system of human origin has gone 
down, and must inevitably do so, since these systems are 
sure to teach, as essential portions of their creeds, some 
things that are proven by science to be false. 

Science is not less destructive of human creations in her 
ministers than in her methods. Here is no priesthood, 
nor ordination, nor privilege, but a pure democracy, where 
the right of private judgment is exercised without re- 
straint, and admission to the mysteries is open to all on 
the same conditions. 

The observations and experiments by which knowledge 
is advanced are repeated by independent inquirers, under 
varied conditions and by all known methods, before the 
results can be accepted as established facts. In this way, 
from age to age, experimental science in all its branches 
makes its slow but certain progress. The discoveries of 
one generation become the familiar truths of the next, 



28 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

are taught to children, are turned to account in the 
arts and industries, and so are continually adding to the 
occupations, to the comforts, and to the intelligence of 
mankind. 

The discoveries and inventions, or, properly speaking, 
the revelations, which together constitute mechanical 
science, may be grouped under four general heads. These 
are : 

1st. — The laws of force and of motion ; 
2d. — The operation of these laws, in their application to 

matter in its various forms and states ; 
3d. — The forms and properties of matter itself ; and 
4th. — The conception of the modes in which all these, in 

the infinite variety of their combinations, are found 

to be practically applied in nature, and in which they 

can be practically applied by man. 
The weight or pressure of the atmosphere, or the 
mutual attraction of the earth and the atmosphere for 
each other, and the amount or degree of this attraction, 
constitute a phenomenon that belongs to the second of 
these groups. The discovery of this attraction was one 
of the earliest discoveries in modern mechanical science. 
A brief account of it will fitly illustrate the method 
in which the facts of this science have been established ; 
or the form and mode of the appeal that, in all experi- 
ments of a mechanical nature, whether these are successful 
or unsuccessful, is made to the Infinite Source of truth ; 
and the manner in which the revelation of physical truth 
is given, in answer to such appeal. 

So far as we have any knowledge, the idea that the 
atmosphere might have weight or exert a pressure never 
occurred to the philosophers of antiquity. During the 
earlier period of the revival of learning in Europe, the 
question was occasionally discussed, and was always de- 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 29 

cided in the negative. No such pressure could be felt. 
All experience and sensation seemed to be opposed to the 
idea of its existence. 

Men were everywhere using their rude devices for rais- 
ing water in pumps, without the least idea of what they 
were doing. The action that was taking place before 
their eyes never entered into their comprehension. If 
any one had told them that, in raising a pump bucket, 
they were lifting a portion of the weight of the atmos- 
phere from the water under the bucket, so that the excess 
of this pressure, exerted on the surface of the water 
in the well, would force the column of water in the 
pump barrel up after the bucket, there were centuries 
when such a teacher would have been in danger of being 
burned up. 

This, with all similar phenomena, was explained by the 
dictum, that nature abhors a vacuum. This nonsense 
passed for science through many an age. It is interesting 
to recall the long period during which this was assumed 
as an axiom that no one dared to question. But are there 
not now conventional absurdities, from which we must 
ourselves become free before we can be entitled to smile 
at that one ? And are we not ourselves surrounded by 
truths, which in reality are as manifest as that of the 
weight of the atmosphere, and which are of unspeakably 
greater consequence than that, but which our eyes have 
not yet been opened to see? 

The raising of the question, whether the atmosphere 
might have weight, was itself a notable event, as marking 
the beginning of scientific inquiry. But an experiment 
was tried, which was long regarded among the learned as 
settling this question in the negative. This experiment 
consisted in weighing a bladder, when distended with air, 
and when empty. No difference in the weight could ever 
be detected. 



30 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH, 

The power of observation, which was to be developed 
only by the study of nature, did not then exist, that would 
enable men to detect the fallacy in this experiment. This 
fallacy lay in the unobserved fact, that the bladder was 
filled with and immersed in the same fluid. Whether full 
or approximately empty, it always displaced, in addition 
to its own proper bulk, very nearly the same weight of air 
that it contained. A similar experiment would just as 
well prove water, or even mercury, to be without weight. 
So this great fact was yet hidden from men. Copernicus, 
Galileo, died without the sight. 

In endeavoring to raise water from a deep well in Flor- 
ence, it was found possible to lift it only about thirty-twa 
feet, which led Galileo to observe that nature, evidently^ 
did not abhor a vacuum above thirty-two feet. Dying, 
Galileo commended the investigation of this subject to his 
pupil and successor, Torricelli. The reflections of Torri- 
celli led him to the conviction that the atmosphere must 
have weight, and that it must be by its pressure that the 
water was caused to rise in the pump barrel. In consid- 
ering how this question might be tested, he at last thought 
of mercurj^ This substance, being between thirteen and 
fourteen times heavier than water, would be caused by 
the same pressure, if it existed, to rise only about thirty 
inches. So he reasoned that, by the employment of 
mercury, the existence or non-existence of this pressure 
might be shown in a glass tube. 

It is interesting to imagine the feelings of this philoso- 
pher when preparing for this experiment, which was so 
remarkable at once for its simplicity, its conclusiveness, 
and its importance. It was almost as simple as that of 
standing the ^^^ on its end, yet no other finite mind had 
conceived it. Was it with trembling expectation, or in 
the calmness of conscious strength, that he filled with 



THE CRITERION OF TRUTH.. 3 1 

mercury his glass tube, four feet in length, sealed at one 
end, placed his finger over the open end, inverted the tube, 
plunged the open end in a vessel half filled with mercury,, 
and then — removed his finger? 

What were the emotions with which he saw the column 
of mercury fall, and, after completing the oscillations pro- 
duced by its momentum, stand at a height of between 
twenty-nine and thirty inches, in equilibrium with the 
pressure of the atmosphere on the same area of surface of 
the mercury in the vessel ; or with which he realized the 
fact that the glass tube above the column of mercury 
enclosed the absolute void, then first obtained by man, 
since only approximations to it could be reached in the 
pump barrel, and which was ever after to be known as the 
Torricellian Vacuum ! And what would his emotions have 
been, if he could have imagined, what, indeed, no one can 
adequately conceive, the influence that this discovery was 
to exert, in promoting the industries and the civilization 
of his race ! ^ 

The discovery of the pressure of the atmosphere is one 
of those discoveries by which the boundary of human 
knowledge has been enlarged in a remarkable degree. It 
was a radical discovery, and out of it there have sprung 
an endless series of discoveries and inventions, which, 
while they have contributed in an incalculable measure to 
the material welfare of man, have at the same time added 
still further to the extent of his knowledge and the power 
of his understanding. 

The supreme influence which mechanical science is 
adapted to exert, and which it is exerting, on thought 

^ Belief in nature's horror of a vacuum died hard, however. The account 
of the repetition of Torricelli's experiment by Pascal, and his correspondence 
on this subject with Jesuit Fathers, in the 4th volume of his works, Paris 
ed., 1819, i^ delightful reading. 



32 THE CRITERION OF TRUTH. 

and belief, as well as on human character, will form the 
primary subject of these papers. If we seek for the ulti- 
mate ground of this influence, we shall find this ground in 
the facts, now assumed, but which I shall endeavor in the 
proper place to establish, that in this science man, in his 
conscious ignorance, and with a sense of entire depend- 
ence, makes his appeal immediately to the Infinite Source 
of truth ; that the methods of experiment and observation 
are the divinely appointed way in which this appeal is 
made and the revelation of physical truth is received ; and 
that this mode of revelation is such that the mind cannot 
entertain a doubt respecting the certainty or the reality 
of the truths revealed. 

While, as has been already stated, the supreme truth of 
a changeless God, whose mode of action is invariable, 
as this truth is revealed by mechanical science, underlies 
and gives direction to modern religious thought, it will be 
observed that the ground on which this thought ulti- 
mately reposes is confidence in the method by which this 
truth is established. 



SUPERSTITION. 



Mechanical science is the angel whose spear has van- 
quished the demon of superstition. The source of this 
power in mechanical science is no secret. It is the science 
which penetrates to the causes of phenomena. Force, in 
the various forms of its manifestation, is, as has been 
observed already, the cause of all phenomena whatever. 
But force is unseen. It is hidden from the apprehension 
of rude and ignorant races. To them nature is full of 
mysteries. Their minds are without guidance in their 
imaginative or form-constructing activity. Every phan- 
tom becomes to them a reality. They people the earth and 
air with spiritual representations of their own dispositions, 
and tremble before their conceptions of natures like their 
own invested with unlimited power. Their minds become 
the abodes of superstition and credulity. 

The dawn of light on this darkness is the development 
of the knowledge of force, in its unvarying and beneficent 
activity. This is not the full light ; it is only the dawn. 

Mechanical science is a science that diffuses itself, and 
exerts a wholesome influence throughout the masses of 
every civilized society, even where the very term " sci- 
ence " is unknown. It is the foundation of what is called 
*' common-sense," which is an orderly habit of thought, 
and a disposition to look for natural and reasonable causes 
of phenomena. 

33 



34 SUPERSTITION. 

Confining our attention to the most enlightened na- 
tions of the world, we observe that, before the general 
cultivation of mechanical science, unlimited credulity 
made men everywhere the victims of ghostly authority. 
In mediaeval Europe we see superstitions and delusions, 
which differed only in kind from those of preceding pagan 
times, controlling even the most cultivated minds, and, 
springing out of these, we see irrational and erratic habits 
of thought prevailing, with little check or guide. 

Although there is still an abundance of all this to be 
seen, showing at once the incompleteness and the need of 
the work of mechanical science, still the influence already 
exerted by this science, and the results accomplished by it, 
in substituting, in place of all such vagaries, reasonable and 
correct methods of inquiry, and habits of thought based 
upon and guided by fixed principles and laws, have 
already been greater and more important than can be 
adequately conceived. Illustrations like the following in- 
dicate both the extent and the fundamental nature of this 
influence, which has cooperated, in a degree that has not 
hitherto been realized, with other influences of the high- 
est nature, in delivering the human mind from every form 
of bondage. 

Institutions of learning do not now esteem relics as 
their most precious possessions. Men of science do not 
now make a business of calculating nativities. Courts of 
justice do not now gravely engage in the trial of witches. 
But when mechanical science had its birth, in the age of 
Galileo and his successors, they did all these things. 
These and like absurdities, which only about two cen- 
turies ago were regarded as so serious, mankind has out- 
grown wherever mechanical science has been cultivated, 
and largely through its influence. 

The word " superstition " is capable of a meaning more 



SUPERSTITION. 35 

extended than is commonly attached to it. It is properly 
employed to express any unfounded belief, and the dis- 
position that accepts such beliefs with readiness is properly 
called superstitious. Superstition in this modified form is 
more generally recognized under the term "■ credulity." 
The practical way in which mechanical science goes about 
the work of destroying this monster, wherever it finds it, 
is readily shown. 

Whatever be the particular direction that thought may 
take, human nature always manifests itself in essentially 
the same way. So it is the case in mechanics, as well as 
in other branches of science, and in speculative philosophy, 
that vagaries, more or less visionary, are appearing con- 
tinually. In all these departments of thought alike, 
absurdities are continually being urged upon the attention 
of men. This is a general manifestation of the perverse 
tendency of thinkers, so-called, to be captivated by the 
work of their own imagination, and to proclaim this as the 
truth. 

But there is a wide difference in the credence that these 
mechanical and philosophical speculations command. Me- 
chanical science possesses the important advantage of 
being able to bring all conceits that appear in her realm 
sharply to the test of experiment. " How Avill it work ? " 
is the pitiless question, and but little interest can be 
aroused in any supposed invention until this question has 
been satisfactorily answered. 

One occasionally hears of a person who is cherishing a 
pet mechanical conceit. It is opposed to mechanical 
principles; but he is quite innocent of these, and, as they 
antagonize his supposed invention, he cannot admit them 
into his mind. He is sure of the soundness of his plan. 
It takes complete possession of him. Some one is induced, 
or more probably a number of persons combine, to con- 



36 SUPERSTITION. 

struct a machine which shall at the same time demonstrate 
the invention, and show the inventor to the world. 

A trial is made, and lo ! — as was the case a few years 
ago with a propelling apparatus that was constructed on 
what was represented to be a new principle, and which, 
when it came to be tried, was found to produce no effect 
in moving the boat in any direction, — the whole thing 
vanishes into thin air. The reflection of the thoughtful 
observer is : '' What a pity that the same disposition 
cannot be as quickly and effectually made of the vain 
speculations which, under the name of philosophy, are 
continually wearying the ear." Here, for want of checks 
that can be promptly applied, we see advocates of all 
sorts of theories doing serious harm by confident assertions 
and plausible reasonings, which one experiment, if only it 
could be fairly tried, would dissipate forever. 

Mechanical science operates powerfully, however, to- 
reach absurdities of the latter character also, by its indi- 
rect influence, and by the general habit of thought that it 
develops. It thus becomes, in the largest sense, an im- 
portant educator, and one the influence of which is felt 
throughout the masses of society. 

Men, who in any department of mechanics with which 
they are acquainted observe continually the natural adap- 
tation of means to ends, become accustomed to the uniform 
operation of unvarying laws, and see idle conceits, formed 
in contravention of these laws, continually exposed and 
thrown aside. In this way they insensibly acquire a 
stability of character and correct habits of thought, and 
are not likely to be led away by delusions of any sort. 

They observe that in mechanics there exist fundamental 
principles which must be regarded, and they naturally 
look everywhere else also for general requirements of a 
corresponding nature. They become accustomed to rea- 



SUPERSTITION. 3/ 

soning with some degree of precision, so that vague gen- 
eralities have httle or no effect upon their minds. They 
consider, correctly enough, that absurdities are quite as 
likely to arise in other departments of thought as they are 
in mechanics ; and they come to be on their guard against 
specious novelties, in whatever form these may be pre- 
sented. 

In a later paper the opportunity will be found for giving 
to this line of thought a more particular direction. We 
may properly observe here, that, at the present day, when 
free thought is coming to be more and more general, and 
the minds of the masses of mankind are awakening to an 
increased activity, it is certainly a gratifying feature of the 
case, calling for sincere congratulation, that there exists a 
conservative influence or power so strong, and at the 
same time so all-pervading, as mechanical science has 
shown itself to be. 

It is difficult to draw a line between the destructive and 
the constructive forces of mechanical science ; just as it is 
difficult to distinguish between the effects of light in dis- 
sipating the phantoms and chimeras that filled the dark- 
ness, and in revealing the world around us in its reality. 
So also the direct and the indirect influences which are 
exerted by this science blend insensibly with one another. 
It must be sufficient, therefore, merely to call attention to 
those distinctions, without attempting to observe them 
strictly in our argument. These being borne in mind, all 
the beneficent influences of mechanical science may prop- 
erly be considered together. 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 



In a former paper I have endeavored to show the in- 
fluence of mechanical science, in combating one weakness 
that is common to men — namely, the disposition to assume 
and to submit to authority in matters of belief. We have 
now to observe another influence of an equally healthful 
character, which is exerted by mechanics with equal force, 
in resisting another weakness more subtle and, if possible, 
more dangerous than that. 

Here as there the work of mechanical science will be 
found to be, not negative merely, but affirmative as well. 
In both alike it tears down only that it may build up. 
There we found this science establishing individual free- 
dom of thought, and direct access to the Infinite Source 
of truth. Here it will be found developing that spirit or 
disposition by which only it is possible for truth to be 
apprehended. 

Many minds are found, even among men of intellect- 
ual power and influence, who are accustomed in a greater 
or lesser degree to look within themselves for the criterion 
of truth — who seem irresistibly inclined to believe that 
because any thing appears to them to be true, therefore it 
is true. They would hesitate to declare this in so many 
words. Indeed they would most likely be offended if 
their real mental operations were exposed, even to them- 
selves. But in reality they can never see that, although 

38 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 39 

a certain idea may appear to them to be true, that fact in 
itself does not afford any reason for concluding that it is 
true. They cannot perceive that truth must be estab- 
lished wholly by evidence existing outside of their own 
minds, — that in balancing the reasons for and against any 
belief, the belief itself, even though it be held by them- 
selves, ought to weigh nothing/ 

This weakness is exhibited by different minds in various 
degrees. Indeed, it is doubtful if there lives a man who is 
entirely free from it, who in examining a question about 
which he already holds a belief can in all cases bring to 
the consideration of that question a perfectly judicial 
spirit, can distinguish absolutely between the proper evi- 
dence and his own prepossessions, and form an unbiassed 
judgment. Many men, it is true, are found capable of 
forming singularly impersonal judgments on many ques- 
tions, but we shall catch them somewhere. On some side 
of their minds prejudice is sure to appear. The necessity 
for ignoring all prepossessions if the truth is to be seen, if 
the idea formed in the mind is to conform to the reality, 
is obvious ; but who is there that can always do this ? 
Who is able, in every case, to free himself from the pleas- 
ing conceit, that what he believes must be true? 

There are cases in which this weakness appears in its 
extremest form ; in which it is obvious that, habitually, 
the necessity is not perceived for bestowing much atten- 
tion upon external evidence, and still less for giving 
weight to the views of others, but the mind is satisfied 
with the short train of reasoning already stated ; the indi- 
vidual being probably unconscious of his weakness, nay, 
willingly blind to it. 

It is interesting to consider what must be the major 

' It will, of course, be understood that reference is not made here to self- 
evident truths. 



40 THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 

premise of the syllogism, from which a conclusion of this 
sort can be drawn. This is, that, so far at least as relates 
to the question at issue, my knowledge is infinite, all 
things in reality are just as they appear to me to be. It 
is only on this general assumption, that any one can say 
or can feel : this appears to me to be true, therefore I am 
satisfied that it is true. 

The fact of this common weakness of our nature ex- 
plains why so little progress towards the establishment of 
truth is usually made by discussions, and why the curious 
result is almost always observed to follow from these, that 
each side is more firmly fixed in its own belief than it was 
before. 

This infirmity is one of the principal causes of sectarian- 
ism in religion. The division of the Protestant Christian 
world into sects presents a most interesting phenomenon. 
A survey of the multitude of religious sects that have ap- 
peared since the Reformation, shows that, at the bottom, 
modern sectarianism has been a natural extreme reaction 
from the bondage to spiritual authority, and to enforced 
uniformity of belief, which had been the condition for 
many centuries. At the same time the tendencies to 
superadd human inventions upon divine truth, to ex- 
press that truth in formulas which reflect the limited 
and perverted conceptions of it that are formed by men, 
and to exercise and submit to spiritual despotism, have 
shown their universal characters, by appearing also in 
degrees more or less marked in every Protestant organ- 
ization. 

The sectarian feeling is that disposition which seeks after 
distinctive peculiarities of belief, and which cherishes these 
points of difference with especial zeal. Sometimes this 
feeHng finds its excuse in attributing undue importance 
to particular truths. Sometimes it is seen in attachment 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 4 1 

to a cherished notion, which in reality is immaterial or 
even unwarranted. Most Christian sects show the endur- 
ing impress of some commanding but necessarily imper- 
fect mind, which for its adherents in some degree takes 
the place of and hides the Christ. There are cases in 
which the distinctive peculiarity of the sect, about which 
its members are strenuous above all other things, is some- 
thing very whimsical. 

Sectarian feelings are the opposite of Christian feelings. 
Sectarianism is directly at variance with the unity which 
the Christ so earnestly prayed might exist among his dis- 
ciples. The observations which are suggested by sectarian- 
ism are therefore not observations upon Christianity, but 
upon its opposite. 

When once a religious sect has been formed, multiplied 
and sometimes extensive associations and interests be- 
come involved in the maintenance of its separate existence. 
These interests and associations are, of course, quite dis- 
tinct from any logical reason for the separate existence of 
such a sect. Nevertheless, they sometimes become the 
principal motives for its continuance. 

These interests and associations impel to strenuous, and 
in some cases to extreme, defences of the distinctive tenets 
of the sect, although these tenets may have been formu- 
lated under conditions of thought which are now obvi- 
ously imperfect, and which, in developing to a rounder 
and fuller spiritual life. Christians have outgrown, or are 
outgrowing. 

Upon a comprehensive view of this subject it becomes 
apparent that sectarianism belongs to the period of spir- 
itual childhood. It presents every characteristic of this 
age. In this earlier period of spiritual growth, out of the 
conditions of which it sprang, and to which it has been, 
and still is, although in a continually diminishing degree, 



42 THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 

adapted, sectarianism has had its essential mission to ful- 
fil. It has been the necessarily limited form, under which, 
in these earlier stages of the spiritual life of the race, 
religious zeal and devotion have found their expression. 

Sectarianism exists, however, only as a step to something 
higher. Antagonism, which is of the earth, earthly, must 
pass into concord, which is from heaven. The human 
must give place to the divine. Mature spiritual life rises 
far above many trifles, which, in our infantile and conten- 
tious age, have appeared of such solemn importance. 

The tendency to sectarian division has passed its cul- 
minating point. The current of Christian feeling is now 
clearly in the opposite direction. The antagonisms of 
former times are something that Christians at the present 
day can only with difficulty form an idea of. The period 
of Christian unity is evidently approaching. All the novel 
influences by which men are now surrounded, and of which 
they are only partly conscious, are insensibly operating to 
bring the minds of individuals, in the exercise of their 
free activity, into a state of charity and harmony with 
regard to spiritual truth. 

Among the influences which are tending to liberate the 
mind from bondage to all the inventions of men, those 
exerted by mechanical science must be accorded a prom- 
inent place. That which may be termed the external 
influence of this science, or that influence which it exerts 
in breaking down the barriers that have separated and 
isolated the various races of mankind, and in ameliorating 
their conditions, with the immediate effect of destroying 
prejudices, enlarging the range of thought, multiplying 
human relations, and broadening human sympathies, — all 
this work of mechanical science is of course obvious. 

But deeper than this is its influence upon thought. 
Not only has it contributed to make thought free, but its 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 43 

influence is exerted even more strongly to give to free 
thought its proper direction. Anticipating in some degree 
the conclusions of subsequent papers, we may observe 
here that mechanical science gives precision and definite- 
ness to the use of language, substitutes ideas of uniformity 
in place of those of caprice, and destroys the delusion that 
truth is to be arrived at by speculative methods. 

There are no sects in mechanics. No warring schools 
contend here, as in medicine. No conflicting views are 
put forth and battled for in mechanics. And why? Be- 
cause mechanical science appeals at once to the infallible 
criterion of truth. " Thus saith the Lord " is the only 
declaration to which it yields its assent. For the most part 
unconsciously, but none the less really on that account, 
and none the less trustingly, the engineer listens for the 
voice of God. Whenever this voice is clearly heard de- 
claring physical truth, it is recognized with gladness, and 
thus we have MECHANICAL SCIENCE. 

The power of mechanical science in correcting false 
methods of thought lies partly in the fact that all its 
conclusions must be based on evidence which exists 
wholly outside the individual. It appears, indeed, to the 
superficial observer, as if the very weaknesses, the nature 
of which has just been exposed, were especially liable 
to appear in mechanics. This, however, is because in 
mechanics absurdities are always detected, and are shown 
in their true light. In other departments of thought 
these often pass for wisdom. 

Before the tests of truth which mechanical science em- 
ploys, all preconceptions and prejudices, all influence of 
association, or of education, or of habits of thought, all 
micre words, which, however established by usage, or im- 
posed by dogmatic authority, in reality mean nothing, all 
pride of opinion or of place, all conceit as to any thing 



^^ THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 

that for any reason may strike the mind favorably, — all 
these things that so darken the understanding, and render 
it incapable of apprehending truth, or of giving to differ- 
ent truths their proper relative importance, are at once 
and forever swept away. 

The individual may, and often does, cling to mechanical 
delusions, in which case he also disappears. The practical 
application of an idea in a working machine frequently 
destroys in an hour the cherished fancies of years. From 
this crucial test no inventor can escape. It searches, not 
only his work, but also himself. It reveals at once his 
genius, his knowledge, and his disposition. The latter is 
generally the real thing, or at least it indicates the posses- 
sion or the want of the real thing. 

No one who conceives of himself as already knowing 
any thing that he has not profoundly and experimentally 
studied, no one who brings to his work the disposition that 
has been described in this paper, can ever either produce 
any thing or learn any thing in mechanics. He exemplifies 
the proverb : " Though thou shouldst bray a fool in a mor- 
tar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness 
depart from him." 

A good illustration of this disposition recently came un- 
der my observation. A legal gentleman of an unusually 
acute and discriminating mind, but who had of course 
been trained to see the truth onlv in his side of a contro- 
versy, conceived himself to be an inventor, and, of all the 
foolishness in the world, he hit upon that of making rail- 
way cars to run upon skates, instead of on wheels. He 
actually obtained a patent for this invention, and then pro- 
ceeded to urge it upon the attention of engineers. 

The case was an interesting one from a psychological 
point of view. Argument was wasted on him. He was 
asked : " How will your skates slide on the greased rails 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 45 

when, as will happen directly, these become covered with 
dust adhering to them ? " '' That, gentlemen," he replied 
with an air of triumph, as if he were destroying the effect 
of the question on the mind of a court, '' is something for 
you to provide against." 

The conversation then took this form : He was asked, 
" Did you ever hear of the mechanical device termed the 
wheel and axle ? " 

" Oh, most certainly, gentlemen ; you cannot teach me 
any thing about that." 

'' You know, then, that one of its offices is to reduce the 
waste of power that is suffered in overcoming friction ; 
that it accomplishes this object by diminishing, very 
greatly, the amount of sliding motion of one surface upon 
another, transforming that which is so got rid of into roll- 
ing motion of the periphery of the wheel on the road or 
the rail ; and that the small surfaces, in the axle and box, 
that still slide on each other are certainly lubricated and 
protected from dust." 

'' Gentlemen," he replied with energy, " I have absolute 
confidence in the value of my invention. All that I re- 
quire is capital to enable me to demonstrate it." 

"■ You will need for that purpose," his interlocutors an- 
swered, '' about twenty-five dollars. With this sum you 
will make a little model, on which the difference can be 
shown at once between the power required to move, say, 
five pounds, along a line of rails, when set on skates, and 
when carried on wheels." 

The suggestion was resented, as trifling with his inven- 
tion. 

This example illustrates the character of mind that truth 
cannot enter, — a mind that is already completely occupied 
with its own preposessions. Yet such a mind is not 
wholly self-deceived. While loudly proclaiming the cer- 



46 THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 

tainty of its belief, it is careful to avoid a fair test of it. 
Minds of this character prefer, gePxCrally, some department 
of thought, in which their dogmas cannot be brought to 
the test of an observation. This is the disposition that 
controversy develops, and by which in turn controversy is 
perpetuated. It is the disposition which is in all respects 
the opposite of that which mechanical science demands, 
and which all the influences of this science combine to 
produce. 

Let us now, by way of contrast, suppose a disposition 
of the latter kind, and approximations to which are by no 
means rare, in the case of a real inventor, who is possessed 
of that choice gift, a judicial spirit ; a spirit humble, 
teachable, and honest, both with itself and others. Such 
a man conceives of something new, and which appears to 
him to be practicable. In reflecting on his idea, he finds 
after a while that he has reached a point, from which he 
can make no further progress by thinking. His invention 
has been matured in his mind, so far as he can go. 

He now proceeds to construct his machine, or apparatus, 
or whatever the device may be, according to the light he 
has. Then he puts it into operation, sits down before it 
like a little child, opens his mind wide to receive instruc- 
tion, and lets the invention itself teach him, by its practi- 
cal working. 

His spirit being entirely receptive, he is sure to receive 
the revelation. This revelation may be, it often is, that 
his scheme is radically defective, that his idea is a delu- 
sion, that there is nothing in it. 

He recognizes the infallible character of the criterion 
to which he has appealed, and perceives the demonstration 
of the unwelcome truth in its full force. It costs him a 
pang and a tear, but, as he sees his dreams melt away, he 
feels that he has learned something, that he has been to 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 47 

the fountain of knowledge and has received instruction, 
and that he is capable of better things than he was capa- 
ble of before. 

Instead of total condemnation, the disclosure may be 
that something he never thought of, just in the last place 
he would have expected, is wrong or wanting. Some- 
times defects will appear that puzzle him, and the nature 
of which can be discovered only by long study. Perhaps, 
again, the revelation may be — if the scheme is a radically 
new one it is pretty sure to be, — that extensive changes 
must be made, before the invention can be fairly judged. 
All real inventions are slowly reached through just such 
discouraging revelations. 

A fact here confronts us, that is well suited to command 
our attention. In every attempt made by man to produce 
any thing of a novel character, something is sure to be 
wrong. No finite intelligence ever, on the first attempt, 
produced or conceived of even the simplest thing, in the 
form that was finally found to be correct and satisfactory. 
This is a fact of human experience. One who imagines 
that he would form an exception to this law would be the 
last of all to approximate to initial excellence. 

An individual may, from a knowledge of general princi- 
ples, and from familiarity with like attempts, be able to 
say, in any particular case, what will not answer ; to de- 
tect, perhaps at a glance, defects that are hidden from 
others ; but whenever lie attempts to produce any thing 
new, even in the field with which he is most familiar, 
something will certainly escape him, until it is revealed by 
experiment. The variety of possible conditions and com- 
binations is so great, and the range of our thought is so 
closely limited to our previous experience, that successful 
inventors always come to be astonished at the crudity of 
their first attempts. 



48 THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 

It should be observed, that the word " new " is rarely 
employed in an absolute sense. In the comparative use 
of this ^vord, there are endless degrees of novelty. Gen- 
erally, in mechanics the word '' new " is employed to mean 
merely new arrangements, or the application to new uses, 
of devices which are familiar. In some of the more sim- 
ple of these novel combinations of familiar devices it 
occasionally happens that a person of experience in their 
use, by careful study, succeeds in his first attempt. But, 
on the other hand, for any finite mind to enter upon that 
which is new in mechanics, in any thing like the absolute 
sense of that term, is like entering an unknown sea, whose 
extent and every indentation of whose shores must be 
learned by observation. 

The fact is an obvious one to every candid mind, and is 
one which all experience impresses more deeply, that only 
an infinite intelligence can comprehend beforehand, and 
can embrace in its view, all the conditions and require- 
ments that will manifest themselves in the operation of a 
new device. Man must grope his way through darkness 
into the light. 

The following general conclusions seem to be warranted, 
as the clear teaching of mechanical science respecting 
physical truth : 

First. — Although the mind may be wholly unconscious 
with whom it has communed, physical truth is to be found 
only through a direct appeal to the Infinite Source of 
truth ; and 

Second. — Only the teachable spirit, completely emptied 
of self, can recognize the existence of the source of truth, 
or can receive from it the revelation which is always 
ready to be imparted. 

These conclusions are here limited to physical truth. 



THE JUDICIAL SPIRIT. 49 

As we advance in this discussion their universal nature 
will appear, even before we come to observe the unity, or 
rather the identity, of physical and spiritual truth. The 
fruitless nature of the attempts, that have been and are 
still being made, to find the criterion of truth anywhere, 
except in the Deity himself, or to learn truth by any 
means, except by direct appeal to Him, ought, it would 
seem, so far at least as respects the physical modes of its 
expression, to be sufficiently obvious. 

The importance of the preceding discussion will also 
become more apparent as we advance in our argument. 
When we get down to the root of the matter, we shall 
invariably find that the disposition of men tD look within 
themselves for the criterion of truth, to bring infinite 
truth within the narrow limits of their understanding, 
and to read revelation, both natural and verbal, in the 
light of their own dispositions and fixed habits of thought, 
has been the fruitful source both of philosophical and of 
religious error, — of false systems of thought and belief and 
education. 

On the other hand, we shall find that the truly philo- 
sophic disposition, the disposition to look for the criterion 
of truth wholly outside ourselves, in the infinite perfec- 
tion of God, is the only disposition that can find the cure 
for all these absurdities, that can discover the sure cri- 
terion of truth, and can permit this to exert its legitimate 
influence on thought, on the emotional nature, and on 
human conduct. It is by the methods and the direct 
revelations and the certain analogies of mechanical science 
that men are slowly becoming educated to the willingness, 
nay, even to the ability, thus to look away from them- 
selves to the infinite and changeless God. 



THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 



In reflecting upon the general subject of these papers, 
and on the mode in which the views maintained in them 
could be presented with clearness, I found myself em- 
barrassed by the term " faculty," and the meaning that is 
affixed to this term, comprehending, as it is made to do, 
certain functions and activities of the mind, to the exclu- 
sion of others. I was still more embarrassed by the sharp 
distinction that is drawn between our intellectual and our 
moral natures, and the influence of this distinction upon 
thought and instruction. 

Although recent philosophy has come to admit the 
unity of the mind, still this truth must be said as yet to 
be only recognized, rather than properly taught. It is 
not accorded that prominence which its supreme import- 
ance deserves. On the contrary, the influence of earlier 
and crude conceptions continues with little diminution. 
The term " faculty " is retained, and continues to serve 
its old purpose. This is said to be done for convenience 
in classifying mental operations. The effect of its reten- 
tion is effectually to prevent the adequate apprehension 
by the learner of the truth of the unity of the mind, and 
to prevent this truth from being followed out to its 
legitimate results, or from exerting its legitimate influence. 
The popular mind, and to a large extent the educated 
mind as well, remains even ignorant of its existence. 

50 



THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 5 I 

For all the benefit that is to be derived from that 
general recognition of the unity of the mind which is 
made in our later systems of philosophy, and for any aid 
that can be afforded by it to a discussion such as the 
present one, this recognition might as well not have been 
made. The argument to be presented in these papers 
requires that this really fundamental truth should be dis- 
tinctly apprehended. This argument will in fact be 
found ultimately to rest upon the underlying truth that 
the mind is a unit. Before proceeding further, this truth 
must be established. 

From time immemorial the human mind has been divided 
and subdivided after different fashions, and these divisions 
have been classified and arranged into systems, and such 
methods or analyses have been taught by teachers who 
had themselves been taught them, just as if these divi- 
sions of the mind, instead of being wholly imaginary, were 
as real and substantial as are the physical divisions of the 
globe. 

Thus according to accepted systems we possess the 
faculties of the reason and the understanding, the percep- 
tive faculties, the faculty of the will, the faculties of the 
memory and the imagination, the aesthetic faculty, and 
the faculty by which we distinguish between right and 
wrong. To these some theologians have added the faith 
faculty. 

On the other hand, the emotional nature is represented 
as being without faculties. Nothing is admitted to be a 
faculty that does not come within the category of what 
are termed the intellectual powers. We can, therefore, 
have no faculties with which we rejoice or grieve, or love 
or hate. We do all these things, but we do them without 
the employment of any faculties. 

In opposition to all this imaginary machinery, stands 



52 THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 

the simple truth that the spirit is a unit. What have 
been termed faculties, as well as the operations of what is 
distinguished as the emotional nature, are only the differ- 
ent modes of our spiritual activity ; into each form of 
which activity, as this form is determined by the occasion, 
the spirit directs its whole power. 

The spirit is a unit. It is the same conscious self that 
perceives, and thinks, and feels, that performs every 
mental operation, and is sensitive to every moral and 
emotional impulse. 

It is the one self-conscious indivisible being, that suc- 
cessively observes and remembers, that reflects upon the 
images that it has formed in consciousness by observing, 
and which it retains or recalls there by remembering, that 
judges, that decides, that resolves, that impels to speech 
or to bodily activity, that constructs imaginary forms, 
that grieves or rejoices, that loves or hates, that is true or 
deceitful. 

It is the conscious intellectual, moral, and emotional 
unit, in its completeness, that as such unit exercises itself 
in all of these different ways, as the occasion calls for such 
exercise, and in each one according to its development in 
power and in disposition. 

As the sunlight, though manifold in its composition, is 
a unit, and as all life which it calls into being would be 
different in some respect, if the constitution of the sun- 
light were in any particular different, so every act that we 
perform, every thought to which we give shape, and every 
emotion that we feel would be in some respect a different 
act, or thought, or emotion, if our whole combined intel- 
lectual, moral, and emotional nature were in any particular 
different from what it is. Every act, and thought, and 
feeling is the act, or thought, or feeling of our spiritual 
being as a whole. 



THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 53' 

No intelligible meaning can be affixed to the term " fac- 
ulty," except '' a mode of exercise," " a form of spiritual 
activity." In the ordinary substantive sense of this term, 
if indeed any one can define this sense, there are no such 
things as faculties. 

The incorrectness of saying that we possess faculties is 
abundantly exposed by the fact, that when we are once 
accustomed to admit this form of expression, we do not 
perceive the absurdity of proceeding further, and saying 
that we possess minds, or even that we possess souls. The 
fact is, we are minds, and what have been termed the fac- 
ulties of our minds are in reality only some of the various 
forms or modes of our spiritual activity. 

It is a curious and instructive study to trace the origin 
of this arbitrary division of the mind into these imaginary 
distinct and unrelated faculties. These divisions were ob- 
viously the product of a rude process of thought, similar to 
that which evolved the system of polytheism. 

In earlier ages men observed the various divisions of 
natural objects, but had no conception of the unity in 
which these divisions are combined. They created, there- 
fore, in their imaginations a separate divinity over 
each one of them. Then, observing in the same isolated 
fashion their own different occupations and interests, they 
imagined other divinities, also, presiding over each one of 
these. The tendency of the heathen mind has always 
been to multiply these imaginary deities. 

The conception of one God is the most sublime of all 
possible conceptions. Science has shown the unity of the 
creation, a unity comprehending the universe, and which 
is expressed by its name. It has thus demonstrated the 
truth of this conception of one Supreme Being. 

We are taught that this great truth of the divine unity 
was imparted to mankind by direct revelation. The ob- 



54 ' THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 

servation of the uniform tendency of the mind in the 
opposite direction, or to the multiplication of divinities, as 
illustrated in all pagan history, affords strong confirmation 
of this doctrine. If, however, any doubt remains that a 
direct revelation was necessary in order that the truth of 
one God should enter the human mind, that doubt must 
be removed when one considers the persistent tendency of 
our thought to division, as that tendency has been mani- 
fested in Mental Philosophy. 

Precisely as men reasoned, if indeed the term '' reason " 
can be employed in such a connection, in creating their 
separate divinities, so they have reasoned in imagining 
separate mental faculties. 

They observed the members and organs of their bodies, 
and saw that each one of these had a separate and distinct 
office to perform, which it was expressly fitted for perform- 
ing ; as, for example, the eyes for seeing, and the limbs 
for walking. From such observations, men were led to 
conceive of their minds, as being also composed of mem- 
bers, or organs, each of which was expressly adapted 
to the performance of separate and distinct functions. 
These several mental operations were arranged in classes, 
or divisions, without much regard to the unity that com- 
prehends them, and a member or faculty of the mind 
was imagined, adapted to perform each one of these 
classes of operations. So these imaginary faculties re- 
ceive from the philosopher's, just as the divinities did from 
the poet's pen, their '' names and habitations." 

The description and classification of these imaginary 
faculties, and the definition of the boundaries allotted to 
each one, or of its especial function, is called Mental Phi- 
losophy. 

In this operation of cutting up the mind, a difficulty 
was encountered when the dissectors came to the acts of 



THE UNITY OF THE MIND. 55 

rejoicing and sorrowing, of loving and hating, and of 
speaking or acting truly or falsely. It was evident that 
these must be the acts of the spirit in its unity. No 
ingenuity could contrive separate members to which the 
performance of these acts could be committed. 

The difficulty was met after the heroic or Alexandrine 
fashion. What were regarded as the moral and emotional 
parts of our nature were denied the possession of facul- 
ties. Moreover, being destitute of these appendages, it 
was obvious to the philosophic mind that this supposed 
separate department of our spiritual being was not en- 
titled to scientific consideration, in any such sense as 
that in which this consideration was bestowed on the 
intellect, which was held to be blest with the exclusive 
possession of faculties. 

Philosophers, essentially repeating one another, have 
been blind to the fact that, in assuming the reality of this 
artificial and wholly imaginary system, they have ignored 
the supreme element of spiritual existence, and the high- 
est form of activity in their own nature, in a degree that 
is fatal to any conception of truth in its unity, or to the 
conception of the real nature of truth ; which, we shall see, 
requires for its apprehension every mode of activity of 
which our spirits are capable. 

Now, it is submitted that it is time that all this work of 
imagination should follow the classical deities, which, in 
the conceptions of their adorers, were once so real that 
they could not be spoken against, but which have not 
now a worshipper ; and that the recognition of the 
supreme truth of one God should be supplemented by 
the recognition of the truth of the unity of the human 
mind. 

The importance of the latter truth, and the necessity 
for its recognition, if any progress is to be made in the 



56 THE UNITY OF THE MIND, 

apprehension of spiritual realities, will become abundantly 
evident in the course of this discussion. Moreover, it 
will be seen that practical consequences of a most serious 
and injurious nature follow from this doctrine of divisions 
of the mind, a doctrine which has been universally ac- 
cepted, as if these divisions really existed, instead of be- 
ing imaginary parts of the spirit of man, which in reality 
is indivisible. The artificial and mistaken habit of 
thought which has thus been engendered affects disas- 
trously both our systems of education and our religious 
conceptions. 

It is hoped that this exposition of the unity of the 
mind, with the applications of it which will be presented, 
may assist in rendering this great truth a familiar one. 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM. 



We have now reached a position from which we may 
observe more closely the reason or ground of the health- 
ful influence that mechanical science is adapted to exert 
on thought, in its higher or spiritual sphere. 

In the progress of mental development, and of reaction 
from a state of spiritual bondage, it became necessary 
that mankind should pass through a period, in which, in 
the case of many minds, this reaction would take the form 
of rebellion against all modes whatever of what appeared 
to be spiritual domination. In such a period the tendency 
would appear to assert the ability of the mind itself to 
ascertain the truth, in all those forms of it which are not 
obviously the subjects of empirical determination. It 
was unavoidable that the door should thus be thrown 
open to every extravagance of independent and unguided 
thought. 

The various sects of Protestant Christians became alive 
to the danger, and they endeavored, according to the 
light of the age, to fix, and really though not purposely to 
limit and confine, religious belief. This they did, for the 
most part, by substituting, in place of the rejected dog- 
mas of the Roman Church, written creeds or interpreta- 
tions of Scripture, that derived their authority from the 
consent of those who were to be governed by them ; 
while not the least rigid or enduring was the unwritten 

57 



58 MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM, 

creed of those whose boast it has been that they have no 
creed. These creeds went far beyond the single require- 
ment of Christianity, which is the union of man with 
Christ, or the attainment by man of the spirit of Christ, 
and in various degrees they demanded the acceptance of 
dogmas which can only be termed the inventions of men. 

From that period to the present there has appeared in 
all Protestant denominations of Christians a continual 
spiritual growth or development, and an increased depth 
of spiritual perception. The religious mind has steadily 
tended towards emancipation from bondage to the letter 
that killeth, — to that true freedom which is the fruit of 
the life-giving spirit. 

While Christian sects were insisting upon the reception 
of every proposition in their dogmatic theologies, under 
the penalty of eternal damnation, free-thinkers were 
indulging in the extravagant defiances of English deism 
and French atheism. The present age shows, on both 
sides, a tendency to the abandonment of these extreme 
positions, and a softening of the asperities by which they 
were marked. While conflicting views in great number 
are still held, there is to be observed a growing neglect, 
on the one hand, of the more obviously human element in 
religious dogmas, and on the other hand, of the extreme 
denials that were contained in the old forms of infidelity. 

In this progress the Christian sees, truly enough, the 
operation of the Spirit of God. But God works through 
means which are adapted to bring about the results 
observed. The dependence of metaphysical knowledge 
upon physical science has been uniformly recognized. In 
the growth of physical science, and especially in the 
growth of mechanical science, is to be found the funda- 
mental and efficient cause of the enlargement of thought, 
which has only just begun, and to which there can be no 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 59 

limit. This advance has already rendered impossible to 
enlightened minds the narrow conceptions which once 
were universal, and is gradually enabling mankind to dis- 
tinguish with certainty between the human and the divine. 

Modern free thought is seen generally to take on some 
one of the forms of what is known as rationalism. In one 
sense rationalism admits of a definition. It claims for the 
unaided human reason absolute authority m matters of 
faith. It declares that reason must be the final arbiter 
respecting spiritual belief. When, however, we come to 
ask, what has the reason established as entitled to belief? 
the number of different answers that we get to this ques- 
tion is limited only by the number of rationalists. No 
two of these will be found to agree in every shade of 
their belief, unless we admit agreement among the agnos- 
tics, who deny that reason has shown any thing to be 
entitled to belief. 

Rationalists are found scattered throughout the wilder- 
ness of free thought. Every rationalist believes that 
which seems right in his own eyes. In rationalism we 
witness the fullest development of the disposition to look, 
as far as possible, within one's self for the criterion of 
truth. 

Rationalistic speculation starts from the assertion of the 
so-called psychological principle, that what it terms the 
reason intuitively perceives universal and necessary truth. 
From these truths it passes, by what it asserts to be logi- 
cal processes of thought, to every caprice and conceit 
that speculation has thus far been able to imagine ; these 
speculations, by a curious law, becoming continually more 
vague, indefinite, and dreamy. 

The rationalistic schools of thought have exerted and 
still exert a subtle and widespread influence. This influ- 
ence is wholly pernicious. Under it the mind becomes 



6o MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 

lost in endless mazes of error. The more brilliant the 
will o' the wisp that allures into the vagaries of ration- 
alism, the more hopeless the entanglement becomes. 
Confidence in the conclusions of the unaided reason is a 
delusion that is all the more fascinating and dangerous, 
because it flatters the pride of intellect, which, like "' the 
fatal gift of beauty" often turns the heads of its posses- 
sors to their ruin. 

Mechanical science possesses the power to expose the 
error that is contained in the fundamental assumptions of 
rationalism. This science shows the falsity of the claims : 
that the unaided human reason is able to decide correctly, 
and has therefore the right to decide, in matters of faith ; 
that it is the natural and proper arbiter with respect to 
spiritual belief ; and, finally, that it intuitively perceives 
all universal and necessary truth. Mechanical science 
assumes, equally with rationalism, that all truth is ad- 
dressed to the mind, and that nothing can be known 
to be a truth, unless it is recognized as such, and adjudged 
to be such, by the mind in its judicial activity. But it 
discovers the vital error in the assumptions of rationalism 
to consist in this, that this philosophy assumes respecting 
the human mind that which can be predicated only of a 
complete, a perfect, or, in other words, of the Infinite Mind. 
It shows, by a conclusive analogy, that only the all-com- 
prehending mind can be entitled to reh- upon its own 
intuitive perception of truth, in any of its forms, whether 
universal or particular. It shows that the finite mind, 
while capable of being developed, possibly to the com- 
prehension of any truth whatever, cannot itself distinguish 
between truth and error, except just in the degree that it 
has been taught, but must rely entirely on the instruction 
that it receives from the Infinite Mind ; and this is revela- 
tion. 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM. 6l 

This lesson, of the absurdity of the reliance of a finite 
mind on its own unaided judgment, of our complete 
dependence on revelation, and of the closeness of our 
relation to the Infinite Source and Revealer of truth, is 
taught by mechanical science in such a conclusive manner, 
and its instruction goes so completely to the root of the 
matter, that it becomes of the first importance that this 
instruction shall be distinctly apprehended and its force 
be realized. 

The general fact that is disclosed by mechanical science, 
and that constitutes the teaching of that science on this 
point, has been pretty fully presented, in preceding 
papers, and the reader may be presumed to have become 
somewhat familiar with it. Its importance requires, how- 
ever, that it shall be stated again with emphasis. In 
mechanics, every step that is taken upon untrodden 
ground is sure to be taken, in some degree at least, in a 
wrong direction, and the mind possesses within itself no 
power to correct the error, nor even to determine whether 
or not the step is an error. 

Notions of a novel character, which, from all the 
thought that can be given to them, even by experienced 
persons, seem most certain to be correct, turn out in the 
large majority of cases to be delusions. The experience of 
inventors in every branch of mechanics, as well as that of 
explorers in those branches of physics that are not strictly 
mechanical, will confirm this statement. The most com- 
prehensive knowledge fails when it finds itself confronted 
by a single unfamiliar feature. The tyro is always con- 
fident, but the utmost that the man of experience will 
permit himself to affirm respecting a new device or new 
operation, even in those rare cases in which he can detect 
nothing which is at variance with truth already estab- 
lished, is, that it seems to be worth trying. 



62 MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 

One of the greatest of living inventors once said to me : 
*' There can't be any more mistakes, I have made them 
all." Prafessor Tyndall relates that, in entering upon his 
investigations respecting the power of the atmosphere to 
arrest radiant heat, he assumed that the aqueous vapor 
contained in the atmosphere, being so minute a propor- 
tion of the whole, at the most only about one quarter 
of one per cent., might be disregarded. He was per- 
plexed by the varying character of the results obtained, 
until he began to suspect that the varying degrees of 
humidity of the atmosphere might have something to do 
with these results. The final outcome of his exhaustive 
researches, as is well known, was the discovery of the im- 
portant fact, that dry air has almost no power to arrest 
radiant heat, and that the aqueous vapor contained in the 
atmosphere, which for a long time he could not see that 
he should pay any attention to, affords the only protec- 
tion to the earth, to prevent the immediate loss, by radia- 
tion into space, of the heat received from the sun. 

Such candor as is exhibited in these confessions marks 
the true seer into nature. Through such minds only can 
physical truth be revealed to men. And it is only by 
effort on the part of such men, sincere, patient, and per- 
severing in a degree beyond ordinary comprehension, 
that the clouds and darkness which are round about 
every form of physical truth can be penetrated. 

Thus that science in which the conclusions of the 
unaided human reason are brought to practical tests, and 
its unreliability is made apparent to the gaze of all men, 
renders to philosophy the important service of showing 
the complete dependence of the human mind on revela- 
tion for its knowledge of truth. It is certain that in 
mechanics all attempts to ascertain truth by mere reason- 
ing infallibly lead men astray. Active minds create 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 63 

legions of phantoms, all of which need, not to be dis- 
cussed and argued about, but to be mercilessly exposed. 
In mechanics we see clearly enough, that the employment 
of '' the unaided human reason" is merely reasoning, or 
pretending to do so, without any properly established 
data, which here at least would obviously be the work of 
fools. 

But, it will be asked, and the question is a natural one, 
does not the reason or the understanding itself perform 
all this work of invention and discovery? — does it not 
conceive, direct, and supervise all experiment and observa- 
tion, and itself determine the certainty or the inconclu- 
siveness of the results? The answer to this question is, 
that the mind certainly does all this, but that this is the 
necessary mode in which man cooperates in receiving 
these revelations. The subject of our necessary coopera- 
tion in the revelation of truth will become prominent in 
this discussion. When the nature of this cooperation on 
our part is apprehended, it will be seen to furnish the 
answer to the above question. But we may observe here, 
that obviously these revelations could not be made to man 
at all if he did not possess the intelligence to receive 
them, they cannot be made to him any further than his 
receptive intelligence has been developed, and we cannot 
conceive any other method or means so well adapted for 
their effectual revelation to him as is just that mental 
activity on his part which he is called upon to put forth. 
Attention must not be diverted from the fact, that in 
physics, where only an obvious test can be applied to 
them, our mental speculations need to have their errors 
corrected at every step. 

We must stop here, to rid our minds of that creation of 
our imagination, " the reason." In popular conception, a 
glamour surrounds this " shape that shape has none " 



64 MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 

that seems to render correct reasoning extremely difficult. 
When, however, we are able to see clearly that the only 
reality that can be expressed by this term is the mental 
process, by which the spirit of man, in its unity, discusses 
the appearances which are given in consciousness, then 
the first position has been gained. It is important that 
we should see that " the reason " is, itself, one of those 
unwarranted conceptions that the spirit, in its form-con- 
structing activity, is continually creating. When we are 
fairly rid of this conception, and are able instead of it to 
consider the act of reasoning, as above defined, then it be- 
comes evident that the subject-matter of reasoning must 
first be given, and the distinction between reasoning and 
observing becomes an obvious one. 

Mechanical science guides the feet in the path of true 
philosophy, by maintaining, in its own sphere, this funda- 
mental distinction between reasoning and observing, and 
by insisting on the supreme importance of experiment 
and observation, which are man's cooperative acts in re- 
ceiving the revelation of mechanical truth. 

The act of observing, including the verification of the 
reality and the truth of the image formed in conscious- 
ness, is an exceedingly complex act. It calls into exercise 
every form of our spiritual activity, and it manifests all 
the qualities which in their aggregate constitute character. 
It is not proposed to present here an analysis of this act, 
but only to point out that the appeal for the exposure of 
the falsity, or the verification of the truth, of the mental 
conception, must always be made to a criterion existing 
wholly outside the mind itself. 

It is interesting to consider the light that is thrown by 
mathematics upon this distinction between observing and 
reasoning. The processes of mathematical reasoning are 
certain. They are of a nature that excludes doubt. But 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM. 65 

in the physical appHcations of mathematics, that is, in the 
appHcation of mathematical reasoning to any purpose 
whatever, the correctness of the result depends entirely 
upon the correctness and the sufficiency of the data, and 
these data mathematics does not provide, nor does it 
primarily contribute in the least degree to their provision. 

The fault is not an uncommon one among mathemati- 
cians of neglecting proper verification of their data, or 
proper assurance that all essential data have been given 
them. The mathematical mind, just in the degree that it 
is exclusively mathematical, seems inclined to be wrapped 
up in its processes, and to be satisfied with their certainty, 
so as to be incapable of appreciating the anxious observa- 
tion that must be exercised in ascertaining the data on 
which its calculations are to be based. In this respect, a 
similarity appears between mathematicians and rational- 
ists, that is precisely what one would expect. 

I once witnessed an incident that illustrates the uncer- 
tainty which attends all physical applications of mathe- 
matics, in cases where the necessary data have not been 
well established. At a meeting of the American Associa- 
tion for the Advancement of Science, held in the city 
of Albany some twenty-five years ago, in the Physical 
Section, presided over by Professor Henry, a paper on 
a subject in mixed mathematics was presented by Pro- 
fessor Pierce, of Harvard. When the reading of the 
paper had been concluded, Professor Alexander, of Prince- 
ton, arose and requested that the discussion of it might 
be postponed till the next day, as he expected then 
to present a paper on the same subject, in which, by a 
different course of reasoning, he had arrived at precisely 
the opposite conclusion. Some different elements had en- 
tered into the problem, as it had been attacked by each of 
these eminent mathematicians. 



66 MECHAXICAL SCIENCE AXD RA TIONALISM, 

The discovery of the planet Xeptune is often cited as a 
prominent and striking instance of the ascertaining of a 
fact by the mere exercise of the reasoning powers, through 
a purely mathematical process. Xo event has ever been 
more misapprehended, for there is none that places the 
distinction between observation and reasoning in a stronger 
light, or that exhibits in a more remarkable manner the de- 
pendence of reasoning upon careful and exact observation 
for the correctness of its results. 

The power of the analysis that could locate the unseen 
planet, and the strength with which this mighty weapon 
was wielded bv the voung; Encjlish and French mathema- 
ticians, whose names are forever associated with this dis- 
covery, command the admiration of men. The basis on 
which this analysis proceeded was, the accumulating ir- 
regularities in the orbit of the planet Uranus. This orbit 
had been computed, as it would be determined by the in- 
fluence of all known attractions ; but, to the surprise of 
astronomers, Uranus did not move in this orbit. The de- 
gree of its departure from it was ascertained by observa- 
tion, and this obviously could not be learned in any other 
way. If these observations had not been exact, or if they 
had been insufficient, in either case the mathematicians 
would have been misled, the result reached by the mathe- 
matical process wt^uld have been wrong, the planet would 
have been looked for in the wrong place, and would not 
have been found. 

But it has been reserved for mechanical science to afford 
the most convincing demonstration both of the dependence 
of reasoning upon data otherwise ascertained, and of the 
tendency to error in all mental processes, which tendency 
can be shown and corrected only by observation and ex- 
periment. 

This peculiar power of mechanical science has already 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RATIONALISM, 6/ 

been abundantly shown. We may, however, in conclu- 
sion, refer to the application of mathematical reasoning to 
mechanics. Engineers know very well that it will not do, 
in practice, to conform to any deductions of mathematics, 
unless these deductions have been founded on exhaustive 
experiments. All such deductions made in disregard of 
this requirement, and it may be added that the name of 
these is legion, are presumably worthless. Some factor is 
certain to be omitted ; some requirement, often of great 
consequence, is sure to be under-estimated, or even 
entirely overlooked. The result of every experiment is 
always in some respect a surprise. Something is revealed 
that was not anticipated. The great structure of mechani- 
cal science has been reared by mathematical investigation, 
upon the foundation of experiment ; or, to change the 
figure, experiment has been the plumb and the level and 
the square, the application of which to this structure has 
been necessary at every point in its rise. 

In mechanics we are confronted by two facts, which are 
as familiar as any facts of human experience can be. The 
first of these facts is, that, in the search after physical 
truth, the mind is, to the last degree, fallible, and liable 
to error. Where, out of all possible images that we can 
form in consciousness, there can be only one that corre- 
sponds with the reality, we are equally liable, instead of 
this, to form any one of the endless number of images 
that would represent nothing, and to accept this phantom 
of our brain as representing a reality. We have within 
ourselves no power to distinguish the true from the false. 
In advancing even one step beyond what is already estab- 
lished and familiar, we find ourselves in absolute need of 
a guide, who will arrest our tendency to error, and will set 
our feet in the right path on solid ground. 
- The second fact is that this infallible guide has appeared, 



68 MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 

surrounding man on every side, precisely adapted to this 
service, demanding his recognition, and his absolute sub- 
mission to its control and guidance ; and that it is by the 
aid of this guide that all progress in physical knowledge 
has been made. 

It is the familiar teaching of mechanical science, re- 
specting the means by which we have arrived at our pres- 
ent knowledge of physical truth, and by which all further 
knowledge of this nature is to be attained, that this knowl- 
edge is imparted to us, and verified to us, wholly from 
without, beyond, and above ourselves. 

Now, this is a fact of supreme consequence, not only in 
itself, but still more on account of the deductions which 
appear naturally, and indeed necessarily, to be drawn from 
it. For there seems to be no way of escape from the con- 
clusion, that this truth, which is so certain with respect to 
the facts of mechanical science, and, it should be added, of 
all science as well, must in reality be a universal truth, of 
which these practical illustrations or applications are, to 
our present apprehension, merely the most obvious and 
unmistakable expression. 

The following propositions seem to be self-evident : 

First. — If the unaided human mind cannot be relied 
upon for the ascertainment of any physical truth, this is a 
direct intimation that we are not to rely upon it for the 
ascertainment of any other form of truth. If, as is obvi- 
ously the case, our mental powers are not given us to be 
employed as the means for arriving, by any mere unguided 
exercise of them, at the knowledge of physical truth, we 
have no right to rely upon their unaided power or activity 
as the means of arriving at higher forms of truth. If at 
every step toward physical knowledge we need an infal- 
lible guide, it is a reasonable presumption that we re- 
quire such a guide everywhere. 



MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND RA TIONALISM. 69 

Second. — If such a guide is found to have been provided 
here, it would be unreasonable to suppose that mankind 
have been left helpless in any other respect. On the con- 
trary, the presumption is exceedingly strong, that if, in his 
search after physical truth, man finds at his hand the very 
aid he needs, without which he must have remained in 
helpless ignorance, in a state in which every creation of 
his imagination would appear to him as a reality, but by 
the employment of which he may hope to reach the 
heights of physical knowledge, so he must be able, if he 
will, to find aid equally available and equally efficient as 
well as indispensable, in his efforts to reach the more ele- 
vated heights of spiritual truth. 

Finally. — If this guide to physical truth can be of no 
service to man, except as he seeks for it, voluntarily em- 
ploys it, recognizes its infallible nature, holds his con- 
structive and his reasoning powers entirely subordinate to 
it, yea, humbles and prostrates himself before it, it is a 
reasonable conclusion that he must deal in precisely the 
same manner with the guide that shall lead him to the 
knowledge of any truth whatever. 

Such a unity pervades all truth, physical and spiritual, 
and this unity is so obvious to us, that the force of this 
argument from analogy cannot be either disregarded or 
resisted. The criterion of all truth, spiritual as well as 
physical, to which the appeal must always be made, is to 
be found only at its source, and the universal guide to 
It is revelation. 

The various forms of speculative error which are 
grouped under the general name of rationalism are best 
met by the assertion of the great and comprehensive 
truth, that ALL knowledge is imparted to the human 
mind by revelation. For the demonstration of this truth 
mankind will primarily be indebted to mechanical science.. 



REVELATION. 



In the preceding paper I have endeavored to point out 
some of the analogies afforded by mechanical science, 
which seem to lead to the conclusion that all truth must 
be communicated to the human mind from the Infinite 
Mind — that is, by revelation. In this and subsequent 
papers I shall present some considerations which tend 
directly to confirm this conclusion. 

However inclined the reader may now be to question 
this proposition, in the general form in which it is stated, 
I hope, if he will accompany me in my attempt to present 
the reasons on which the proposition is rested, he will in 
the end be prepared to give to it his assent. If it be the 
fact that we cannot arrive at the knowledge of any truth, 
except as this knowledge is thus imparted to us, then, 
clearly, it is of the first importance that this fact should 
be universally recognized. 

Our minds must first be disabused of an unfavorable 
prepossession. The term '' revelation " has been used in 
a restricted sense. It has been customary to employ this 
term to express only the verbal mode in which the highest 
of all forms of truth has been communicated to man ; and 
which particular form of truth it is obvious could not have 
been imparted to him in any other way. 

It is claimed that this limitation is unwarranted, and 
also that it is unfortunate, in that it has served to hide 

70 



REVELATION. 7 1 

the essential unity of all truth, by assuming a radical dis- 
tinction between the modes in which the knowledge of its 
different forms or manifestations is conveyed to us ; a dis- 
tinction that in reality has no existence. All forms of 
truth proceed from one source, and are intimately related 
to each other, and are associated with each other in their 
relations to man. The essential unity between physical 
and spiritual truth will form the subject of a separate 
paper. At present we will only observe, that this unity 
enables the latter class of truths to be presented under 
the forms of the former class ; that both alike involve 
decD mysteries ; that truths of either class are capable 
of being apprehended only by the humble and teachable 
spirit which has been prepared for their receptioit ; and 
that, within the limited extent to which the knowledge 
of either physical or spiritual truths is possible for us, 
there are degrees in the apprehension of either, which are 
proportionate to the fitness of the mind to receive the 
truth, and to the earnestness of the search for it. These 
close analogies or likenesses point clearly to a common 
source, from which the knowledge of both these forms of 
truth is imparted to us. If this indication be correct, then 
the term "revelation" ought to be employed in a general, 
or rather in a universal, sense. 

In point of fact, all truths are equally revealed to men, 
only the mode of revelation differs, as the nature of each 
truth requires. We shall find that different classes of 
truths are revealed to us in different ways, as is made 
necessary by their varied nature. Each one of the several 
modes of revelation will be seen to be the only way in 
which, as we are constituted, the particular class of truths 
which is revealed to us in that way could be made known 
to us. 

Attention is first invited to some general considerations 



72 RE VELA TION. 

which serve to indicate very clearly that all truth must be 
directly revealed to man. 

With respect to mechanical truth, the correctness of 
this proposition has been abundantly shown. But a 
general survey of the history of human thought will dis- 
cover evidence of its universal character. It will be ob- 
served that, just as the unguided imagination becomes 
filled with false mechanical conceptions, in precisely the 
same manner out of the unguided activity of the mind 
there have proceeded all false religions, all false morality, 
and all false philosophy, of whatever form. 

Of this an instructive example is afforded in the Hindoo 
cosmogony. This example is selected, not for its especial 
absurdity, but because our education has been of a nature 
to make us more alive to its absurdity than we can be 
to the equal absurdity of beliefs with which we are more 
familiar, which perhaps we ourselves have been taught. 

All perversions of both physical and spiritual truth 
have sprung from within the human spirit. In every field 
of thought alike, men have constructed images which 
represented no realities, and have treated these vain fan- 
cies as if they were true. 

Thus all experience appears to confirm the deductions 
af analogy. The liability to error, the need of a guide, 
which is so manifest in exploring the regions of physical 
truth, is equally apparent in every other field of thought. 
In all alike, whenever the mind acts independently of 
direction from the source of truth, it is equally liable to 
fall into error. We are able to afifirm that this tendency 
to error is not by any means confined to mechanical 
truth, but is a universal one, and its invariable presence 
in the former relation, which experience renders so 
obvious, merely serves to open our eyes to its universal 
existence. Indeed, in the light that is shed on this sub- 
ject from all these sources, we seem warranted in the a 



RE VELA TION. 73 

priori conclusion, that whatever has its origin in the 
human mind, and receives its development from the un- 
guided operation of that mind alone, must of necessity 
be false. It would seem as if there could be no escape 
from the conclusion that all truth must come to us from 
the infinite ; that an intelligence which is less than infinite 
can attain to the knowledge of any truth only as it is 
taught. The distinction which has been universally drawn 
between what man discovers and what God reveals then 
disappears. God reveals every thing. 

If this be the case, we are shut up to revelation. 
It must be by revelation alone that we can receive any 
certain knowledge. The source and the test of all truth 
must be wholly from above ourselves. We must submit 
to receive every thing from the Almighty hand. 

I have used the expression '* shut up to revelation." 
This may convey a false impression. In reality, our minds 
must be opened to revelation. We cannot conceive of its 
abundance or its variety. Spiritual as well as physical 
revelation fills the earth and the heavens. It is infinite. 
The fulness of our own being is limited only by the 
wideness with which that being is voluntarily opened to 
receive the universal revelation. 

The question now presents itself : In what manner is 
this revelation made to us? The answer to this question 
is given in the nature of things. To our spiritual being 
as a unit, and in a degree that is limited only by our 
capacity to receive, every revelation of physical and of 
spiritual truth is made to the same consciousness through 
appropriate senses, with all which we have been endowed 
for the obvious purpose of receiving these revelations. 
This truth will, I think, be rendered obvious, if, beginning 
at the lowest form of revelation, we examine its various 
modes somewhat in detail. Such an examination will be 
attempted in succeeding papers. 



THE REVELATION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. 



We begin our review with the external or sensible 
creation. This is certainly revealed to us. We cannot 
form in our minds a correct preconception of any thing. 
If in any case we permit ourselves to form a preconcep- 
tion, this vanishes in the presence of the reality. The 
single obvious duty of every original inquirer is, to form a 
correct image in the mind by observation of the reality, 
and in no other way. We are endowed with a variety of 
physical senses, which are adapted to the observation of 
every quality of external objects, and which will convey 
to the mind true and, so far as they go, complete ideas of 
them. We thus obtain all the knowledge that we need to 
have, and all that we were evidently intended to have, 
concerning these objects. 

We should observe here the variety of our senses. One 
sense alone may be deceived — indeed it often is so. But 
others are always at hand to detect the imposition. I 
once visited Eton Hall, the seat of the Duke, at that time 
the Marquis, of Westminster. On being admitted to the 
grand entrance hall, the appearance of magnificence was 
very impressive. But I rapped on one of the supposed 
marble columns, and it was wood. The artist had done 
his imitative work wonderfully well ; it deceived the eye, 
but it could not deceive the sense of touch or of hearing. 

Universally, we find ourselves provided, in our various 

74 



THE REVELATION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. 75 

senses, with the means for verifying the reality of the 
objects themselves, as distinguished from the images of 
them that are formed in our minds, and also for verifying 
the correctness of these images, as the counterparts of the 
objects, which are presented through our senses for our 
mental apprehension. The completeness of the adapta- 
tion of our senses to both these functions, and the manner 
in which one sense supplements another, and all combine 
to give to the mind full assurance on both these points, 
are calculated to fill us with admiration and wonder. 

Thus we find the beginning of human knowledge to be 
received into the mind by revelation, which is made in the 
mode and through the senses that are appropriate to the 
character of this knowledge. We need not here enter 
further into the philosophy of perception. It is necessary 
only to emphasize the fact that the single obvious duty of 
man in this relation is to observe. This, clearly, is the 
only function of the mind that he is now called upon to 
exercise. The objects of sense are not created by the 
mind. Their nature and condition are not in any way 
affected by its action. They are merely shown to it, and 
perceived by it. Man becomes a conscious, voluntary 
and active agent in receiving knowledge of this character 
merely by observing. 

But a mind is conceivable that refuses to receive knowl- 
edge in this way — that declines to submit to any such 
test of the correctness of its preconceptions — that insists 
that all these appearances are contrary to reason. In- 
stances of such refusal are common enough where the facts 
have been observed by others. An example of this was 
furnished a few years ago by some German geographers, 
who had constructed a map of the interior of Africa as 
they concluded it necessarily must be, and who declared 
the reports of certain discoveries, when first announced, 



76 THE RE VELA TION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. 

to be untrue, because the lakes and rivers discovered had 
not been so laid down on their map. 

But Ave are supposing the case of a man who rejects, 
as unreasonable, facts that are being continually verified 
by the general observation of mankind. Common-sense, 
however, recognizes the conclusiveness of the tests em- 
ployed, and the fitness of the physical senses for this work 
of observation and verification. 

The argument which I wish to urge is made very strong 
by the fact that there is no such person. No sane man 
ever thought of any thing so obviously absurd, as in this 
field to set the conclusions of any process of reasoning 
above the facts established by observation. 

But such a misdirection of our mental activities would 
be no more ridiculous than are those misapplications of 
them that we are accustomed to see in the opposite direc- 
tion. We behold continual attempts made to establish 
imagined spiritual realities or truths by processes of rea- 
soning, when it is evident that reasoning is not the means 
of spiritual revelation, any more than it is the means of 
physical revelation. 

The present consideration of the subject of perception 
will be concluded with two observations : 

First. — Perception through our physical senses is ob- 
viously the only way in which external objects could be 
revealed to us. Language could convey no idea of them. 
These senses are expressly adapted to receive the images 
of these forms of truth, and to present these images and 
verify them to our consciousness. 

Second. — We shall find this to be the universal law. 
Every fact and truth, physical and spiritual, from the 
lowest to the highest, is, in like manner, revealed to man, 
in the only possible w^ay, — through corresponding senses, 
which are expressly adapted to receive it, and to present 
it and verify it to consciousness. 



THE RE VELA TION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. // 

We come now to consider the revelation of the facts of 
natural science. Here an interesting distinction presents 
itself. The ordinary objects of sense, when these are first 
beheld by any individual who is capable of reflection, are 
viewed with the consciousness that, while new to him, 
they are familiar to others, and have been so to all genera- 
tions of men. But in the case of a fact in science there is 
always a discoverer, to whom the fact is first disclosed, 
and by whom it is viewed, as Galileo beheld the planet 
Venus crescent like the moon, or the satellites revolving 
about Jupiter, or as recently the satellites of Mars were 
seen by Hall, with the consciousness that he is the first of 
mortals to behold it, and that through him the knowledge 
of it is to be conveyed to the minds of his race. 

In all cases, however, there is the certainty that the 
fact itself is not new. There is an intelligence to whom it 
has always been familiar, while it is not unreasonable to 
suppose that there may also be an infinity of intelligences, 
to whom it was known before. In most cases, as in that 
of the pressure of the atmosphere, we find that the fact, 
while it was yet all unknown to man, had its myriad uses. 
When once the fact has been disclosed to us, these uses 
are found to come within our comprehension, and to be 
in immediate connection with our own daily life, just as 
multitudes of facts doubtless are, of the nature of which 
we still remain in ignorance. We then discover that all 
nature had been adapted to this fact, that in the infinite 
complications as it appears to us, but what in reality is 
the harmonious interrelation of all created things, this fact 
was essential to the performance of innumerable functions 
by other agencies ; that in the beginning it had formed a 
necessary feature in the plan of the creation. 

In natural science, discoveries are made only by the 
activity of the mind in observing — the same mode in 



78 THE RE VELA TION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE, 

which the mind exercises itself in forming images of any 
objects in nature. The difference lies only in the closeness 
of the observation, in the degree of attention that is given 
and of discrimination that is made. Between these dif- 
ferent degrees of spiritual application no line of separation 
can be drawn. We pass by insensible steps from one 
extreme of care and power in observation to the other. 
From the discovery of our own hands in infancy, up 
through familiarity with all things as they are presented 
to us, still up until we reach what are known as elemental 
forms of matter, still up until the trained and penetrating 
intelligence is able to afhrm the constitution of suns and 
nebulae, and further still through all physical discoveries 
yet to be made, we find our progress to be possible only 
by directing our spiritual being into the same form of 
activity, with reference to different ends, by the aid of 
different helps, and in each case with the concentration, 
often long continued, of our entire power of mental 
activity upon a single object. 

In all these cases alike, we deal with those manifesta- 
tions of force which are familiarly known as matter, and 
for the apprehension of which by us these manifestations 
and our physical senses are mutually adapted. In all 
alike, the mind, in order to be fit for the reception of the 
true image, must be absolutely free from preconceptions, 
so as to be able, with just discrimination, to estimate all 
appearances at their true value. 

Moreover, every mind must be at liberty to point out 
the oversights or the misconceptions of any other mind, 
so that, through many independent observers, every form 
of personal error may be detected and corrected. In this 
way the true idea, corresponding to the reality, is finally 
determined. 

It will be observed that discoveries in science are made 



THE REVELATION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. 79 

by the faithful employment of all the powers and means 
of observation that are either directly given to man, or 
that he is endowed with the ability to produce. This is the 
way in which the facts in physical science are revealed 
to us, and, as was observed with respect to the ordinary 
objects of perception, it is obviously, as we are constituted, 
the only way in which these facts could be revealed. 
From the complete adaptation of our physical senses to 
this work of perception and verification, we have the same 
right to conclude that they were expressly designed by 
their Maker for this obvious and necessary use, that we 
have to conclude that the instruments that we employ to 
aid us in these researches were expressly designed for this 
purpose by their makers. 

It is a fact well worthy of observation, that it has never 
occurred to any one to say : If we possessed an additional 
sense, we would then be able to apply an additional test 
of the reality of external objects, or of the correctness of 
the images of these objects that we form in our minds. 
This has never occurred to any one, and it never can oc- 
cur to any one, because we do not feel any such want. 
Up to the point which we find to be the present limit of 
our knowledge, we perceive our equipment for both these 
purposes to be complete. Within this limit, we cannot 
conceive of any use for another sense. We cannot im- 
agine a test additional to those which we are now able to 
apply. With respect both to the reality of the object and 
the correctness of the image of it which we form, the 
employment of the senses that we have brings entire con- 
viction and satisfaction to our minds. 

We note here already the appearance of the universal 
law of hungering and thirsting. The pearls of science are 
not cast before swine. Physical truth can be imparted 
only to those minds which have been prepared to receive 



So THE RE VELA TION OF OBJECTS OF SENSE. 

it, which are devoted to the search after it, and which prize 
it above rubies. Minds that are in any degree indifferent 
to it must, just in that degree, remain dead to its exist- 
ence. And, on the other hand, the completeness of the 
preparation, and the earnestness of the search, measure 
the degree in which this form of truth, like every other, is 
or, properly speaking, can be imparted to man. 

In concluding these remarks upon the revelation of the 
physical creation, I desire to call special attention to the 
fact, that this revelation is always inclusive of the verifica- 
tion both of the reality of objects, and of the truth of the 
images of them that we see in consciousness. No ques- 
tion can arise here about the criterion of truth. The evi- 
dence is conclusive to the mind that is prepared to receive 
the truth at all. The inquirer has been to the highest 
source of knowledge that he can conceive of — in fact, he 
has been to a higher source than he can conceive, and he 
is satisfied. This we shall find to be the case universally. 
Every form of revelation is of such a nature as to be con- 
clusive of its own truth, to minds which are prepared for 
its reception. 



COOPERATION. 



A DIFFICULTY has doubtless already occurred to the 

reader, in the way of admitting the truth, that we obtain 
all our knowledge by revelation. This apparent difficulty 
lies in the fact, that knowledge is so obviously acquired by 
our own exertion. In the mere work of perception, already 
first considered, we are required to employ our senses, and 
to bring our spiritual being into a state of activity; and 
in the higher departments the mental effort by which 
•knowledge is acquired is still more serious, being in most 
cases the utmost of which we are capable. How, then, 
can knowledge be said to be revealed to us ? Before pro- 
ceeding further, it is necessary that this question be 
answered. 

The same difficulty comes in the way of our under- 
standing the truth, that all our possessions are given to us, 
when, apparently, we get them ourselves. These pos- 
sessions are the direct fruit of our own exertions, unless 
we have obtained those which are the fruit of the exer- 
tions of somebody else. In the same manner, all achieve- 
ment is the result of properly directed and adequate effort, 
and cannot be reached in any other way. 

The truth about all this matter was fitly illustrated by 
the Christ, in the declaration that our Heavenly Father 
feeds the fowls of the air, although we have the evidence 
of our senses that they feed themselves. When, how- 

8i 



82 



COOP ERA TION. 



ever, we consider the matter, we observe that the series of 
acts which are necessary to sustain the existence of the 
fowls of the air is long and interrelated far beyond our 
power to trace. Of all these acts, the conscious and volun- 
tary performance of one only is committed to the fowls 
themselves. They have merely to take the food and 
drink that they find provided for them, and adapted 
to their sustenance. We observe further, that this single 
intermediate act is the only act for the support of their 
existence that the fowls have the ability to perform. The 
power is given them to do that which is required of them, 
and which is committed to them to be done, and no more. 
This is precisely the case with man. All difficulty dis- 
appears from this subject, when we consider how many 
things are necessary to be done, in order that any revela- 
tion may be received, or any result be accomplished, by 
man ; and, out of this inconceivable number and variety 
of acts, how few have been committed to man himself! 
Almost every thing is done for him. It is especially note- 
worthy that, as in the case of the fowls, so also in that of 
man, the little that is left for him to do is all that he can 
do. In its nature and its extent it is precisely adapted to 
his powers. It fully employs them. He is called upon to 
exert himself to the full extent of his ability. There is 
nothing, above that which man enjoys in common with 
inanimate nature, that he can receive without his own 
voluntary cooperative effort. From the supply of his 
lowest bodily wants, up to the satisfying of the highest 
longings of his spiritual being, his own active cooperation 
is the condition essential to every gift. We are able to 
perceive that this must be the case, in the very nature of 
things. The desire and the receptive power or condition 
must exist on the part of man. There obviously cannot 
be such a thing as the passive reception by man of any 



COOP ERA TION. 83 

good, above that which, as already stated, he shares in 
common with inanimate nature. 

We shall, in a later paper, have occasion to observe the 
fact, that all the apparently independent agencies in nature 
are working together in harmony, cooperating with each 
other in ceaseless activity and to the full extent of their 
efficiency, for a single immediate purpose, and that this 
purpose is the well-being and happiness of man. We 
have now presented to us the further fact, that man, on 
his part, must join in this harmonious activity ; that in 
order to become the recipient of any good whatever, from 
the lowest up to the highest conceivable, he must perform 
his appointed part. All agencies of which we have any 
knowledge are working for him, and we may naturally 
suppose that this beneficent activity extends also to agen- 
cies which it is beyond our power to discern ; yet all 
must be to no purpose, without the voluntary cooperation 
of man himself. 

This law of cooperation is a most important one. A 
clear apprehension of its universal and necessary nature 
will aid us to the understanding of much that for the 
want of such apprehension is often obscured. I shall 
here limit myself to a single illustration of this law, 
drawn from the primary labor of man. While thus ob- 
served only in its first and most simple application, its 
universal nature will be obvious. Then, when we resume 
the line of thought, now interrupted, we shall see the fact 
continually manifested, that man's voluntary cooperative 
activity is the essential condition of the communication to 
him, or reception by him, of any gift, or any revelation, 
and may properly be considered as the mode in which 
these are imparted to him. 

It is assumed as obvious that there must be an Infinite 
Giver, from whom we receive every thing, including our 



84 COOPER A TION. 

existence. Beyond this gift of existence, there are only 
four things that we obviously receive without our own 
cooperation, which, in a sense more or less absolute, may 
be termed voluntary'. These are light, warmth, air, and 
water. 

Light fills the universe, and enters our open organs of 
sight. We may say that no act on our part, either volun- 
tar}' or involuntary, is required in order that light shall 
enter these organs, and there form the images of external 
objects. Indeed, we must close our eyes in order to keep 
the light and the images out. So also from the same 
source, the sun, we are warmed without any act on our 
part. 

After these first gifts of light and warmth, it is interest- 
ing to observe the gradual manner in which our acts, upon 
which the reception of all other gifts depends, assume a 
voluntar}^ character. At first the act is compelled by a 
sensation of want. It becomes truly voluntary only when 
choice has become free. 

With respect to air, we have our being at the bottom of 
an atmospheric ocean, in which both the earth and all 
things and beings upon it are immersed, and out of which 
no animal or vegetable could exist. To receive the air 
into our bodies, there to perform its amazing functions, 
we have onlv to breathe. The act of breathing can 
hardly be called voluntary in any sense. The necessity is 
urgent, the supply is instant, and the act is performed 
with equal regularity in our conscious and our unconscious 
states. 

Water, the next universal necessity, universally pro- 
vided, we must drink. This is only a semi-voluntary act. 
It is performed under the pressure of an impulse, which, 
if not sooner yielded to, grows to be irresistible. 

It is to be obser\'ed that we share these four gifts with 



COOPERA TION. 85. 

all organic being, vegetable as well as animal. The exist- 
ence of all alike is dependent upon them ; and in each 
one of these, and in the relations that each one sustains. 
to all being, there are involved infinite wonders, to which 
the mind that is in the least degree thoughtful cannot, 
even by constant familiarity, be rendered insensible. 

But we now pass beyond these. The vegetable creation 
has only to expose itself to the warmth and the light of 
the sun, to breathe and to drink. Animals must also eat. 
But for every creature except man its food also is pro- 
vided, to be eaten in the state in which it is found. Man 
only feels the need, and possesses the intelligence, to till 
the ground and to make a fire. These are acts, additional 
to the single one required of the animal, for which man's 
intelligence was obviously given to him, and which he is 
left to perform. In the nature of things, a command is 
laid upon him to perform these acts, and this command 
he must obey. 

Here, in the work of supplying his lowest physical 
wants, man's voluntary cooperative agency begins, never 
to cease. And even here we cannot fail to be struck with 
the relative insignificance of the part that is committed to 
man, essential though that part be. The earth to be 
tilled and the grain to be sown are provided for him. 
With this provision he certainly had nothing to do. 
And now in faith and trust, not in the sunshine nor the 
rain, but, whether consciously or unconsciously it matters 
not, in reality, faith and trust in the infinite goodness 
which is manifested in the sunshine and the rain, and in 
the assurance of that power, whether heard or felt it mat- 
ters not, that in the sweat of his face he shall eat his 
bread, he tills the ground and buries the seed out of his 
sight. In this simple act his appointed work is done. 
His part is performed. Now he has only to wait and won- 



S6 COOPER A TION. 

der, while the sun shines and the rains descend, and the 
earth yields her increase. The seed springs and grows, he 
knows not how, and multiplies and ripens for the harvest. 
It will not be necessary to pursue this subject further as 
a separate topic. The analogy which the mind naturally 
perceives renders the general conclusion sufBciently ob- 
vious from this single illustration, that, at least in the 
present stage of our existence, our own cooperation must 
be a universal requirement. The correctness of this con- 
clusion all observation of human affairs confirms. We are 
prepared to recognize all human activity as the different 
modes of man's cooperative work. We repeat that there 
cannot be such a thing as the passive reception by us of 
any good, above that which we enjoy in common with all 
animate and inanimate nature. The receptive state of 
man is a state of activity. Accordingly, throughout the 
diverse modes of revelation, varying as these do with the 
varied nature of the truths revealed, we shall find running, 
precisely as analogy would lead us to expect, the unity of 
man's cooperation. 



THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 



The subject of revelation will now be resumed, by con- 
templating briefly the revelation of mechanical truth. I 
do not propose to view mechanical truth here in its larg- 
est aspect ; but merely to present some considerations 
suggested by the practical applications of this form of 
truth which are made by man. 

We mark at this point the first important transition. 
In a preceding paper we had our attention occupied by 
the revelation of the forms of matter, or the sensible 
manifestations of force. Now, we are brought into im- 
mediate contact with the unseen. From what we term 
things, which, indeed, are only embodied thoughts, but 
which are not often so regarded by us, because our atten- 
tion is commonly arrested by the object itself, we pass to 
the direct contemplation of thought, and of those em- 
bodiments of thought that have been committed to us. 

In mechanical science we find ourselves to have been 
placed between two creations, the seen and the unseen, as 
the agents for the embodiment of thought. Beyond that 
provision for our existence which we share with the 
animal creation, we discover a boundless preparation 
which has been made for our welfare and happiness, and 
the employment or the utilization of which has been com- 
mitted to our hands. The transition that we make here 
is not in reality so great as at first it seems to be. It is 

87 



88 THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 

only from those thoughts which have been completely 
embodied for us to those which, in a great multitude of 
their applications, have been left to be embodied by us. 

For the purpose of this embodiment, these thoughts 
must be communicated to us. The common idea is that 
mechanical discoveries and inventions are made by men, 
and there we are accustomed to stop. But the properly 
developed mind cannot rest upon this idea. We have 
already dwelt upon the character of minds by which alone 
mechanical truth can be originally apprehended, and 
upon the process through which such minds must pass, in 
order to arrive at the completed, or, as we say, the 
matured, thought of any invention or discovery. To a 
mind that is prepared to receive it a mechanical truth is 
disclosed gradually. Seen dimly at first, through close 
and often protracted application, and by submission to 
constant practical correction, the thought grows in dis- 
tinctness, until at last it appears clear and self-luminous. 

The fact has already been assumed, that these thoughts, 
in their completeness, are imparted to the mind by direct 
revelation, and that this laborious search is our necessary 
cooperative act, or the mode in which these revelations 
are made to us. It is now proposed to examine more 
closely the grounds on which our acceptance of this im- 
portant truth is to be rested. 

When we reflect on the subject, one confirmation of 
this truth presents itself after another. We cannot con- 
ceive of thought except as existing in a mind. Indeed, 
we know nothing of thought except as a function of mind. 
We note, concerning the thought of any mechanical con- 
struction, as was observed concerning the facts of natural 
science, and the thoughts which are embodied in them, 
that the thought itself is not new. It is certain that there 
must be a Supreme Intelligence to whom this thought has 



THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 89 

always been known, a Mind in which it has always exist- 
ed ; and as with physical truth, so here also, we may 
rationally suppose inferior intelligences to exist, in infi- 
nite number, to whom it was known before. In fact we 
cannot draw the line between physical and mechanical 
truth. These are intimately associated with each other. 
We pass from one to the other by insensible steps. We 
see physical truth everywhere underlying mechanical 
truth. Moreover, we find throughout nature, especially 
in animal structures, embodiments of mechanical thought, 
which we recognize as being essentially the same as our 
own. Physical and mechanical truths cannot be essential- 
ly distinguished from each other. Their common origin 
is apparent. Whether, therefore, mechanical thoughts 
are completed in their embodiment by the Creator, or are 
in any part committed for this purpose to man, the truth 
of their eternal existence in the Infinite Mind, in all their 
completeness, however great may be the mystery that it 
involves, is one that we find ourselves compelled to assent 
to, as much as to the eternity of physical thought. 

Of the latter class of thoughts, Columbus was pene- 
trated with one, namely, the thought that the earth is 
round. But clearly this thought had existed in the Infi- 
nite Mind since the earth assumed its form. Of the 
former class, let us consider some of the grander thoughts 
to which mechanical science has given embodiment, and 
which have thus become important agencies in the civili- 
zation of our race. These are thoughts of the varied ap- 
plications of steam and electricity, which, in annihilating 
space and time in so large a degree, point unmistakably to 
a state of being in which our existence shall be wholly in- 
dependent of these conditions. 

It. is not possible that any of these thoughts can be 
new, in the absolute sense of that term ; for they constitute 



90 THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 

agencies of an essential character in the work of human 
development, and they must, therefore, have held a cor- 
responding place in the scheme of that development. 
Neither is it conceivable that these thoughts could have 
been originated by man independently without having 
been imparted to him directly by the Divine Intelligence. 
The mode in which they are reached by us forbids such a 
conception. 

The divine ordering of human affairs involves, of neces- 
sity, the communication of mechanical truths to man, as 
he becomes prepared for their reception. Rightly viewed, 
then, the idea of the direct revelation of these truths is 
seen to be not only the natural, but the necessary idea. 
No other case is conceivable, unless belief in the Infinite 
Mind be rejected altogether. 

But if the foreordering and the communication to man 
of the most general mechanical thoughts be admitted, 
then this admission must extend to the most minute as 
well. There is no place where a line of separation can be 
drawn. Every part of any mechanical structure, however 
inconsiderable it may be, has its own especial function, 
that must be performed, and which it only can perform. 
It constitutes an essential feature of the complete concep- 
tion. In the Eternal Mind thought is always complete. 
The minuteness of its detail is infinite. This is illustrated 
everywhere in nature. So, when fully revealed to man, me- 
chanical thought must be revealed in all its completeness. 

This subject may be considered also from another point 
of view, and such consideration, it seems to me, can 
hardly fail to fix more firmly in the mind the conviction 
of the direct revelation of mechanical truth. 

All forms of matter have evidently been prepared with 
reference to such revelation. Matter, in a large degree, 
exists for the embodiment of thoughts by man. This is 



THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 9 1 

its great use. For many of its forms it is the only ap- 
parent use. The completeness of the adaptation of mat- 
ter to this use is the subject of ever growing wonder. 
Matter has waited through inconceivable duration for 
these uses to appear, for these thoughts to be formed in 
human minds. During this period it has passed through 
successive changes, and its various forms have entered 
into multiplied combinations, the uniform result of which 
has been to adapt it for varied uses, to which in many 
cases it was not adapted in its original condition. We 
naturally conclude, therefore, that adaptation to these 
uses was the purpose of these changes. 

The absolute dependence of man upon matter for the 
embodiment or realization of his mechanical conceptions, 
and the complete fitness of matter for this purpose, consti- 
tute one of those amazing correspondences with which 
nature is everywhere filled. The fundamental thought 
which, precedent to any activity, is always formed in the 
mind, is a thought of something to be done, of some end 
to be accomplished. The thoughts which succeed to this 
primary thought relate entirely to matter, as affording 
the means for the accomplishment of this purpose. These 
thoughts group themselves under two heads. The first 
is, the selection of the material suitable for the purpose. 
The second is, the mode of the application of this material 
to the purpose. The relation between thought and matter 
is, therefore, obvious. Matter exists for the embodiment 
of thought. Each is necessary to the other. Each is 
complementary to the other. The two are coordinate 
parts of one whole. 

We cannot, then, stop short of the evident truth, that 
thought and matter are from the same source ; that, as 
man cannot create matter, so neither can he originate 
thought ; that, as the forms of matter are shown to man 



92 THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH, 

through his physical organs of perception, so also every 
true mechanical thought is revealed immediately to his 
mind ; and that, with reference to his work universally, 
he receives the command that Moses received, and which, 
from the very constitution of his being he must obey, 
" See that thou make all things according to the pattern 
shewed to thee in the mount." 

We must not overlook the threefold unity of thought, 
matter, and man, which is apparent through their mutual 
adaptations. In the great scheme, the part assigned to 
man is the material embodiment of thought. The pur- 
pose that man conceives to-day is new to him, but, if it 
be in accordance with realities, it has existed, and matter 
has been prepared for its realization, from the beginning. 
It is now shown to him, and so he shares the thought, 
and becomes, through his free and yet obedient activity, 
the agent to execute the will, and accomplish the purpose, 
of the Infinite Mind. 

The impressive truth now appears, that these purposes 
are all purposes of good to man himself. There can be 
no escape from this obvious fact. Man is employed as 
the active agent in promoting his own happiness, in 
effecting his own civilization. This is the beneficent end, 
to the accomplishment of which matter in its innumer- 
able forms is adapted, and for which all thoughts which 
relate to matter and its uses have been, and are continu- 
ally being, imparted to man. 

We see clearly enough that mechanical thoughts and 
uses for matter are fundamental requisites to the civilization 
of our race. Civilization appears only as these thoughts 
are disclosed to man. To the Indian few and simple 
were the thoughts revealed, and so for him the forests 
decayed unused, and the marble and the ore lay unsunned. 
The revelation of mechanical tlioughts has been made to 



THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 93 

man very gradually, one thought at a time, and in the 
order in which he has become prepared to receive them. 
Sometimes these revelations have been separated by long 
intervals, and at other times they have come crowded 
thickly together. They have appeared in grander and 
\'et grander procession since free thought began, in the 
pure worship of Him '' in whom are hid all the treasures 
of wisdom and knowledge." 

The question presents itself respecting the multitude of 
erroneous mechanical ideas, mistaken notions, false con- 
ceptions, which first present themselves in the mind, 
whence do all these come ? The only answer to this 
question is, that we do not know. We do know the fact, 
although we are ignorant why it is so, that every thing 
requires its opposite. As there cannot be height without 
depth, or the right-hand direction without the left, so, 
under the present limited conditions of our being, there 
can be no truth without corresponding error. Moreover, 
while truth is single, error is legion. Here we encounter 
this law of opposites, and within ourselves we find not 
only an inability to choose correctly, to distinguish be- 
tween the true and the false, but that almost always some 
form of error is the first to appear, which we feel the in- 
clination to accept and follow as the truth. We find also 
that from without, and involved in the very nature and 
method of the revelation, a test appears, that we at once 
recognize to be infallible, by which we shall know the true 
thought that is eternal, that alone inhabits the Infinite 
Mind, that forms a part of the universal harmony, and 
shall be able to distinguish this from every form of error. 
Then no place remains for the latter, but as the truth 
grows brighter in the mind error vanishes away. 

The mode in which mechanical truth is revealed to man 
suggests the reflection that inventions form no exception 



94 THE REVELATION OF MECHANICAL TRUTH. 

to the rule, that mankind must receive all their blessings 
through trial and suffering. Here, as everywhere else, 
this appears to be the appointed way. How wonderful is 
our mechanical inheritance ! Few persons ever attempt, 
what is far beyond the power of any, to imagine its ex- 
tent. Every real invention has been produced for the 
benefit of the human race forever. Many of these, in- 
deed, pass into oblivion, but not until they have served as 
steps to something higher. What a history of endurance 
and weariness do inventions represent ! the forgotten ones, 
the real germs, out of which the trees, perhaps long after, 
grew, often costing most of all. 

The remarks presented in this paper are intended to 
apply especially to mechanical inventions. Respecting 
mechanical laws, or the uniform modes in which forces 
act, or in w^hich matter behaves under the action of force, 
as well as respecting the properties of matter which adapt 
it for mechanical uses, it does not seem necessary to make 
these the subject of separate discussion. The train of 
thought already followed applies to them directly. It is 
evident that if any thing of a physical nature is communi- 
cated to man by revelation, these must be. 



THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH. 



Leaving now this mixed subject of thought and 
matter in their relations to each other, we advance to 
consider the revelation of ideal truth, — of ideal quantities, 
magnitudes and numbers, and the relations of these 
to each other, which constitute the science of pure 
mathematics. 

One may say : '' Surely these thoughts cannot be said 
to be revealed to us, for they are arrived at as the result 
of mental processes, and they cannot be reached by us in 
any other way." There are, however, two things that 
place this subject before us in a different light. The first 
is, that these thoughts did not originate in any finite in- 
telligence, and do not depend for their existence on any 
finite apprehension of them. They existed before they 
were conceived of by man, and if there be an Infinite 
Mind, these must have existed eternally in that Mind. 
The second thing is, that these thoughts are realities, and 
this in a sense far higher than that in which any objects 
in nature can be said to be realities. They are wholly 
objective to us. They are merely shown to us, and 
observed by us ; but they cannot be modified or affected 
in any way by the action of our minds in observing them. 
Ideal thoughts or truths become objects of our perception 
precisely as material forms do. The images of them are 
held in our mental view, and are there contemplated by 

95 



96 THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH, 

US in the same manner in which the images of sensible 
objects are. 

The revelation is, then, as certain and necessary in the 
one case as it is in the other. The difference between the 
two cases lies wholly in the mode of the revelation. This 
mode differs only as is made necessary by the different 
natures of the objects revealed ; but the result, in bringing 
the image of the object within our consciousness, is the 
same in each case. 

Concerning the revelation of ideal thoughts, precisely 
as concerning the revelation of objects of sense, we note 
three things : 

First. — The mode in which this revelation is given is 
the only mode in which, as we are constituted, it could be 
given to us. Our power of mental perception must be 
developed by exercise. Out of the infinity of ideal 
truths, which to superior intelligences must stand equally 
self-evident in their own light, probably as parts of one 
whole, only a limited number are reached by us, 
and by most persons only a very few, through slow and 
laborious processes. Then those which have been' so 
reached are seen by us also in the same clear light. This 
is obviously the necessary mode of the revelation of ideal 
truth to man, and the way in which man must cooperate 
in receiving this revelation. 

Second. — This revelation of ideal truths, like the revela- 
tion of objects of sense, is inclusive, first, of the reality of 
the objects revealed, and, second, of the correctness of our 
images or conceptions of them. This form of verification 
we call demonstration. It is always satisfactory to our 
minds. We cannot conceive of any additional test, 
the application of which would render our conviction 
more certain on either of these points. We see these 
thoughts to be necessarily true. 



THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH, 97 

Third. — We observe the complete adaptation of our 
minds for discerning this class of objects without the aid 
of the physical organs of perception. These objects are 
purely spiritual, and are beheld by our spirits directly. 
In order that external or material objects may be beheld 
by us, images of them must be formed in consciousness, 
through the medium of our senses. But we form images 
of these spiritual objects without such aids. 

The following distinction appears to exist between 
material objects and these ideal objects. While in the case 
of material objects the essential nature of each one is 
shrouded in equal mystery, mystery appears to bepredica- 
ble of ideal objects only when these are regarded as parts 
of one whole. This whole is infinitely divisible. The 
various individual objects, or ideal truths, when regarded 
separately, are of widely different natures, and are adapted 
to be apprehended by very different orders of human in- 
telligence or development. To the intelligence perceiving 
it, each separate ideal truth is devoid of mystery. The 
mind that comprehends any such truth sees it in its uni- 
versal and necessary character. Such a mind can observe 
the practical applications of this thought in the works of 
the Creator, and can itself intelligently make practical ap- 
plications of it in its own work. 

We may observe here how close are our relations with 
the infinite, and also how confused are the common 
ideas of men respecting the real and the unreal. When 
we have taught a child to comprehend that one and one 
make two, which is the most simple ideal truth, we have 
shown to that child a changeless reality, which had no 
.beginning and can have no end, which is universal or om- 
nipresent, and which transcends both space and time ; a 
truth, moreover, which exists as a reality, quite indepen- 
dent of any material object to which it can be applied, or 



98 THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH. 

of any finite mind by which it can be comprehended. 
And yet we do not apply the term " real " to this and 
similar objects, but we reserve this term for objects of 
sense, which change their forms, and as such objects per- 
ish in a moment. 

In our relations to what we call material objects, and 
thus far also in our relations to objects of mental percep- 
tion, we observe a fact which, by necessary analogy, we 
conclude to be universal. This fact is, that we are capa- 
ble of perceiving these objects only in a small degree of 
detail or completeness, dependent on our own powers. In 
the former case we are able, to a certain extent, to aug- 
ment our perceptive powers artificially ; and in the latter 
case these powers are capable of different degrees of devel- 
opment in different individuals. 

Thus, the limitation to the sights we can see, or the 
sounds we can hear, is found in the limited sensibility of 
our organs of sight and hearing. These organs are sensi- 
tive to the vibrations or pulsations of light and air only 
within certain limits. Matter may become completely 
invisible to us : a fact of which air, water, and glass, as 
well as the disappearance of many substances in solution, 
afford familiar examples. Perhaps the limitation of our 
senses is most impressively shown when we come to 
employ the higher powers of the microscope. Objects 
then appear to us merely as they would do if they were, 
in one plane, just so much larger than they really are ; 
and not the least progress is made towards a knowledge 
of the constitution of matter. For illustration, we may 
magnify a diatom, say, twenty-five hundred diameters, 
which gives a superficial enlargement of more than six 
million times, and the illumination of the object and the 
definition of our instrument may be such, that the object 
is seen with brilliant distinctness ; but, when viewed by 



THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH. 99 

reflected light, the minute portion of the surface that is 
seen appears as substantial as the surface of a shell in our 
cabinet. So, also, the germs of all living things and 
beings, of all vegetable and animal life, although these 
must differ from each other so extremely, appear to us 
absolutely the same. Until their growth and develop- 
ment have reached a stage at which their distinctive 
features come within the range of our assisted vision, the 
microscope reveals nothing by which we can distinguish 
between them. In observing such objects we cannot 
avoid a sensation of awe, as we realize that infinity is 
before us, that it is before us everywhere, and that all tne 
operations of nature are carried on in recesses, into which 
it is not possible that, while in the body, we shall ever 
penetrate. 

So, also, with respect to ideal truth, considered as a 
whole. Our perception of this varies in degree, according 
to the development of our perceptive powers in this 
direction. I understand, we will suppose, a little of 
geometry. I can see clearly enough that the three 
interior angles of any possible triangle are equal to two 
right angles. Many propositions equally simple are plain 
to me. I perceive their necessary character. If, how- 
ever, one talks to me in the language of fluxions, he 
speaks in an unknown tongue. No corresponding images 
present themselves in my consciousness. But since the 
time of Newton there have been discovered still higher 
methods of mathematical analysis, which the mighty mind 
that developed fluxions did not reach. It is well under- 
stood that there is in reality no limit to the science of 
mathematics ; but that for us such a limit exists in the 
limited power of our minds. 

We conclude this paper with the following observa- 
tions : 



lOO THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH. 

First. — Two modes of revelation have now been consid- 
ered, one through our physical senses, the other to the 
spirit directly, without the employment of any media for 
this purpose. These two modes of relevation are quite 
distinct from each other. Each is directly adapted to the 
nature of the objects which are revealed through it. Both 
alike result in producing in consciousness distinct images 
of the objects, so far as the revelation of them is made to 
us. 

Second. — Acquaintance, in any degree, with the first of 
these two classes of objects does not give the power to 
afHrm any thing whatever respecting objects of the second 
class. The attempt to do so would be regarded as an 
absurd presumption. No one ever thought of such a 
thing as to assume that his skill in perceiving material 
things could give him a warrant for saying, or for believ^ 
ing, that any ideal or spiritual object had no existence, 
because he could not see it. 

Third. — The complete reality of all things, whatever be 
their nature, is something far beyond our power to com- 
prehend. In other words, whatever may be the mode in 
which these realities are revealed, such revelation is made 
to us, or can be received by us, only in a partial degree, a 
degree ample, indeed, for all our possible uses, and ample 
also for the employment of all our powers, but, in every 
case, bearing only a small relation to the unrevealed 
reality. 

Fourth. — The perception or the realization of the partial 
nature of this revelation comes to the mind gradually, as 
it progresses in development. In every case this percep- 
tion is most clear to those whose acquaintance with the 
particular subject is most profound. 

None will question the correctness of these statements. 
Each is sufHciently obvious. The second one especially 



THE REVELATION OF IDEAL TRUTH. lOI 

may be regarded as an axiom. The importance of all of 
them will appear in subsequent papers. We shall have 
occasion to observe their application to subjects of the 
highest nature ; applications which, when the universal 
character of these propositions comes to be apprehended, 
the mind naturally, and indeed necessarily, makes. 



MATERIALISM. 



The subject of materialism lies here right in our way, 
and demands attention before we advance to consider the 
revelation of the spiritual realities of force, truth, beauty, 
and love. Materialism is the manifestation of the blind- 
ness of physical science to the real nature of the very 
truth which it cultivates, — a nature which is wholly spir- 
itual. Materialism is indeed strongly resisted by many 
scientific observers, in whom zeal and eminence in various 
paths of experimental research are found united with deep 
spirituality. In spite, however, of the growing influence 
of such minds, scientific thought still remains to a large 
extent materialistic. There are several reasons why this 
was to be expected. 

Materialism consists essentially in limiting thought, 
more or less closely, to objects of sense, that first arrest 
the attention. Our relations with the physical creation 
are so intimate, the changes that matter has undergone 
in time past, and those which it undergoes under our 
observation, and under our own hands, are of such imme- 
diate and practical importance, and the useful properties 
of its innumerable forms are so varied, and so essen- 
tial to our wants, that attention is naturally first drawn 
to, and occupied by, these more obvious features, before 
it can penetrate to the spiritual realities which are mani- 



fested through them. 



I02 



MATERIALISM. IO3 

Then, again, the study of the phenomena which nature 
presents in its many scrolls, forever being unrolled, de- 
mands minute observation and long-continued fixedness 
of thought ; and so the tendency of this study is, espe- 
cially at first, to render the mind indisposed, and in some 
cases positively unable, to look with any concern beyond 
a field which it sees to be so important and so boundless. 

Undoubtedly the chief reason for the present abnormal 
influence of scientific pursuits is their novelty. Physical 
science is the birth of yesterday. We are in the midst of 
its discoveries. The attitude of the scientific mind is to a 
great degree that of the learner, absorbed in details, and 
to whom as yet these details are every thing. 

So it results that the legitimate spiritual influence of 
the physical creation is often felt the least by those who 
are especially devoted to its study. On the one hand, the 
tendency of all such investigations is to cultivate a devo- 
tion to truth for its own sake, to develop a spirit of dispas- 
sionate inquiry and conscientious fidelity, and to form 
habits of close discrimination. But, on the other hand, 
the necessity for following nature into deeper and deeper 
recesses exercises the mind in considering the minute 
rather than the great, the particular rather than the uni- 
versal, in analyzing rather than in combining ; and so the 
tendency is to fix the attention upon what appear as 
material things, which address the mind through the 
organs of sense, and which can be measured and weighed, 
as if these things were themselves the ultimate subjects of 
thought. 

Thus there comes to be shown still by many devotees 
of physical science a remarkable willingness to grind in 
the prison-house of phenomena. Hence also comes the 
disposition to ignore, as subjects for scientific inquiry, the 
spiritual realities that are manifested through all physical 



I04 MATERIALISM. 

forms of being, and also the spiritual perception through 
which those realities are made known to us. There are, 
however, many indications that a decided change in this 
respect is imminent. 

Respecting the essential nature of what we call matter, 
we are wholly ignorant. Taking its forms, as these are 
presented to our senses, we have resolved combination 
after combination, until our means of analysis have failed; 
and in this way we have arrived at what we term " ele- 
ments." Observing the reverse of this process, as it goes 
on in nature, we find these supposed elements combining 
with one another in invariable modes, and then we see the 
compounds thus formed combining with each other, or 
separating, so that their constituents may enter into dif- 
ferent combinations ; all in obedience to forces which are 
revealed only in these effects. Thus there is presented to 
us a wide diversity of forms and properties of matter, 
within what we term the inorganic creation. 

Then, under the power of another class of forces, more 
mysterious still, we see these elements and their com- 
pounds entering into new combinations of a far more 
complicated nature, and in these combinations exhibiting 
forms and properties far more varied and remarkable. 
Now there appear organisms, activities some of which 
come within the reach of our observation, growth, and 
reproduction, followed, after a longer or a shorter period, 
by decomposition and a return to inorganic forms of 
being. 

In this stage we witness the united and concurrent 
action of all physical agencies, as light, including rays 
that do not affect our visual organs, heat, the gases which 
compose and which are contained in the atmosphere, 
water, and mineral forms of matter, each one performing 
its necessary function, and all harmoniously cooperating 



MATERIALISM. IO5 

in the work of clothing the earth with the varied forms of 
vegetable life. 

And now there is seen a greater wonder. When matter 
has reached these higher combinations, and has become 
organized under the action of the vegetative forces, then, 
and not until then, it becomes endowed with the power to 
sustain animal life ; and in its more highly organized 
forms, as, for example, the fruit and not the wood, the 
grain and not the stalk, the flesh and not the bone or the 
hide, it is adapted to support the life of man. 

In thus sustaining animal existence, matter yields 
obedience to a still higher class of forces, and enters into 
additional combinations of a still more complicated nature, 
and organisms of a different and higher character appear. 
Now there come forth beings, with consciousness and 
mental activities and purposes and character. 

As in vegetable life, so here also, the submission that 
matter yields to the higher forces is only temporary, and 
a constant tendency appears to return to inorganic forms. 
In animal life we witness again the successive phenomena 
of growth and decay of the individual, while the species is 
perpetuated by reproduction. 

It is to be observed that in animate being there are mani- 
fested two distinct orders of force. The first of these 
consists of the merely vital forces, which sustain animal ex- 
istence, independently of volition and even of conscious- 
ness. The second comprises the conscious and voluntary 
activities which supervene to the merely animal existence. 
The latter forces are of a nature higher than the former, 
as those are higher than the vegetative forces, and as those 
in turn are higher than the forces that are manifested in 
inorganic being. Thus we have presented to us four dis- 
tinct classes or orders of force, which together constitute 
a series, ascending by high and abrupt steps. But all 



1 06 MA TERIA LISM. 

alike manifest themselves only through matter. And, so 
far as we are yet able to discover, the same elements 
reside in each of the forms of being, and constitute the 
rock, and the tree, and the bird, and man endowed with 
intelligence to observe them all. 

One would expect that, surrounded by these wonders, 
himself the crowning wonder, man would be profoundly 
impressed with a sense of the superficial character of the 
little that he can know, and of the infinite depth of that 
knowledge which is hidden from him. Upon many minds, 
indeed, this effect is produced in different degrees, but it 
is remarkable how many thinking men exhibit an inclina- 
tion, more or less decided, to rest satisfied with that which 
they imagine they can understand, and with repeating the 
very words they have been taught, and to make these the 
boundary of their thought and interest. Inquire of such 
a person, for example, respecting that mystery, the cause 
that determines the colors of bodies, and he will explain to 
you, as it has been explained to him, that each body ab- 
sorbs the other rays of light, and reflects only rays of the 
color which it appears to have. His own questioning is 
satisfied, and so he supposes that he has told all about it. 
In the present state of knowledge this is, indeed, all that 
can be said ; but how can any one imagine that, in saying 
this, he has said any thing, compared with what would be 
a full explanation of these phenomena ? 

The atomic theory constitutes the present bulwark of 
materialism. This theory, proposed by Dr. Dalton, in the 
early part of the present century, as explanatory of chemi- 
cal action, is the work of a comprehensive mind, and con- 
stitutes a great step in advance of the previous condition 
of science. It has accounted, or has appeared to do so, 
for all observed phenomena, with one important excep- 
tion. This is, the change of properties, or the appearance 



MA TERIA LISM. I O/ 

of new properties, that takes place when different sub- 
stances combine with each other. Up to this point only, 
the claim is true, that this '' is the only theory which has 
as yet succeeded in giving an intelligible explanation of 
the facts." 

As held at the present day, this theory is, briefly, that 
each one of the assumed elemental forms of matter con- 
sists of material atoms, of definite forms and dimensions, 
indestructible and indivisible, and that these atoms are 
separated from each other, even in the most dense sub- 
stances, by mensurable distances, which are fixed by an 
equilibrium of attracting and repelling forces ; that be- 
tween the atoms of many different substances there exist 
attractions, varying greatly in degree, but which are always 
the same between the atoms of the same two elements; 
that when the atoms of different elements are brought 
together, under conditions favorable to their union, these 
atoms exercise selection and choice, and those which have 
the strongest affinity for each other unite in definite pro- 
portions, and so form what are termed molecules, which 
in their aggregation appear as compound substances ; and 
finally, that these molecules also combine with one an- 
other in endlessly varied ways, and that by these combi- 
nations of atoms and molecules the whole inorganic and 
organic creation is constituted. 

The atoms must be exceedingly minute, so minute, in- 
deed, that even those molecules which comprise the 
greatest number of atoms, as, for example, those which 
constitute the most highly organized forms of matter, are 
themselves so small, as to be, not merely beyond the 
power of the microscope to discover them, but beyond its 
power to make any sensible progress toward their dis- 
covery. 

The atoms were at one time described as being Infinitely 



Io8 MATERIALISM. 

small, whatever that might mean. Latterly some defi- 
niteness has been attempted respecting their dimensions. 
For example, the smallest drop of water that can be dis- 
tinguished in the microscope is about -g-o-o-oo" ^^ ^^ inch 
in diameter, and it is said that each one of these drops of 
water contains about 8,000 millions of molecules. The 
molecules are believed, moreover, to be small relatively to 
the spaces which separate them, and in these spaces to be 
in a state of ceaseless vibration. These vibrations are 
considered to be the cause of the phenomenon which we 
term heat. It is supposed that the force or amplitude of 
the vibrations determines the degree of heat, and that 
the complete cessation of them would be the absolute 
cold. These are the leading features of this celebrated 
theory. The manner in which it seems to account for the 
phenomena of heat, both sensible and latent, has been 
regarded as affording strong confirmation of its truth. 

Our advance in knowledge is, of necessity, made one 
step at a time. These steps must often be separated by 
long intervals, and each one, when taken, naturally ap- 
pears to many minds to be the last. The atomic theory 
was a great step, and the philosophic mind has rested upon 
it for a time proportionately long. But the world is now 
prepared for another step. This theory does not get be- 
yond mechanical divisibility. It encourages, and probably 
grew out of, the disposition to contemplate the atom 
rather than the force. In the material atom it fixes a 
point of beginning, which, though far removed from our 
sight, is quite within our comprehension, for it is our own 
conception. 

An amusing illustration of the limitation of philosophic 
thought to the material a.tom, and of the satisfaction 
which our education enables us to derive from what is in 
reality utterly unsatisfying, is afforded in those numerous 



MATERIALISM. IO9 

cases, in which the same element or compound constitutes 
two or more substances, which have entirely different 
characters. Chemists tell us that in these different sub- 
stances the atoms or the molecules are differently arranged, 
so as to constitute geometric figures of different forms, 
and they suppose, or at least appear to do so, that they 
have thus explained the whole matter. It is obvious that 
on the assumed data of material atoms, and of the forma- 
tion of all substances by the assembling together of these 
atoms, or of the molecules formed by their union, this is 
the only thing there is to be said ; and it is equally obvious 
that this bold guesswork affords no explanation at all, 
and that these phenomena point to something far beyond 
the limits of our present knowledge, as their cause. 

All analogies are opposed to the doctrine of material 
atoms. Let us first apply to this doctrine the analogies 
that are furnished by mechanical science. This science 
teaches us to look with extreme distrust upon any thing 
that is the creation of our own minds. Whenever, in the 
progress of mechanical development, our conceptions are 
brought to the test of actual experiment and observation, 
we have seen that they are almost invariably shown to be 
illusions. In almost every case, we find that we had not 
reached the bottom of the subject. The history of mechani- 
cal progress is a history of surprises and disenchantments. 
This experience in mechanics is so nearly a uniform one, 
that the engineer is compelled to reason in this way with 
respect to the notion of material atoms : " Is this a con- 
ception formed respecting that which lies wholly beyond 
the reach of our observation ? Yes. Then there is no 
reasonable probability that it can be true. Unknown con- 
ditions are sure to exist, and these, if known, would almost 
certainly show the conception to be an idle one." 

We are in fact mere tyros in knowledge. How absurd 



I I O MA TERIA LISM. 

then to suppose that we can form a correct conception of 
the ultimate condition of what we call matter. In every 
research, we soon arrive at a point where our powers fail. 
It is a general observation that, as the path of knowledge 
widens, it grows fainter also, until it becomes lost in mys- 
tery unfathomable. 

Chemists have found sixty-six substances that they can- 
not resolve, and so it has generally been assumed that 
these cannot be resolved, but are the elemental forms of 
matter, constituting a good solid foundation of all things, 
— substantial starting-points in the search after physical 
truth. 

One cannot help being reminded of Fahrenheit, who 
first constructed a mercury thermometer, about one hun- 
dred and fifty years ago, and who, as is supposed, himself 
believed, and at any rate induced scientific men of that day 
to accept the idea, that he had found the absolute cold, 
which point he named zero. This fitly illustrates the ab- 
surdity of assuming as absolute, points which really mark 
nothing except the present limitation of our knowledge. 

There is in truth no warrant for the belief that we 
have arrived at any primal element. It is unphilosophical 
to suppose that the process of combination, which we be- 
hold extended to such extreme complexity, with the mani- 
festation at each successive step of properties more and 
more astonishing, actually begins at a definite point which 
we have ascertained, and that the ultimate forms of all 
things are thus brought within our comprehension. 

In fact the philosophic mind is already showing signs of 
outgrowing this belief. We seem likely to pass through 
this to a higher stage of knowledge before very long. In- 
quirers are beginning to search after the unit atom, with 
a strong probability that the inquiry will lead, as many a 
one has done before, to results of a nature quite unex- 



MA TERIA LISM. Ill 

pected. The resolution of any supposed principal element 
would be a blow to the atomic theory; not that the belief 
in material atoms could not be extended so as to embrace 
such new conditions, but the confidence of philosophers 
in all such assumptions would be lost, as unquestionably 
it ought to be. 

We have considered the existence of the atom, or of the 
ultimate indivisible unit of matter, to be an assumption. 
It is, however, rather a conclusion from another assump- 
tion. This latter assumption is, that force can be exerted 
only between bodies. Men had observed that the earth 
attracts falling bodies, that the magnet attracts particles 
of iron, and that the non-conductor, when electrically 
excited, attracts or repels the feather, and they naturally 
extended this idea, so as to embrace a similar action far 
removed from their sight. They assume that there also 
some material thing must exist, to attract and to be 
attracted. This analogy is still clung to, and men profess 
to be satisfied with it, although it is obvious that the 
phenomena which are presented in chemical action are 
only suggested in the most general way by attractions 
which act through sensible distances. 

With respect to this subject, it is to be observed, that 
three phenomena are known, namely, force, choice, which 
is termed by chemists elective affinity, and uniformity of 
action. To these there must be added the properties that 
are exhibited by the supposed elemental forms of matter, 
and by their various combinations. These properties, 
which vary with each elemental or compound substance, 
are evidently designed. They are in all cases essential to 
subsequent effects produced. Each one contributes to 
some ultimate result. They cannot, therefore, be con- 
ceived to be accidental. Only one alternative remains. 
They indicate a purpose. 



1 1 2 MA TERIA LISM. 

Four realities, then, certainly exist. These are force, 
choice, uniformity of action, and a purpose that directs 
every act. The first three of these reveal themselves 
directly. Indeed they are assumed in the argument for 
the existence of the atom. The last one we have seen to 
be manifested no less certainly. Now these four realities 
are not only certain ; they are also sufificient. The mate- 
rial atom is superfluous. Faraday's definition of the atom, 
as a point of force, has the merit of not assuming the 
creation of our own fancy to be a reality. The fact that 
we are not able to form a definite conception of a point of 
force increases the probability that the expression may 
contain the truth. 

The belief in the existence of the material atom has, 
in fact, no other basis than our education and habit of 
thought, or rather, our habit of not thinking. This belief 
is pretty strongly intrenched in authority. The general 
idea of atoms, as self-existent entities, is derived from 
heathen philosophy, and mankind have been more or less 
familiar with it for twenty-three hundred years. Science, 
however, pays no regard to human authority, and if this 
be disregarded, the case stands thus : In the behavior of 
what we call matter, we observe only force, choice, uni- 
formity of action, and purpose. These four realities are 
established by conclusive evidence. They are manifested 
through all material forms of being. From them men 
deduce diametrically opposite conclusions. They are 
viewed by each mind in the light that is determined by 
the general direction of its own thought. 

On the one hand, the materialist, who insists upon 
limiting his thought, as closely as possible, to that 
which is immediately disclosed to him through his 
physical organs of perception — which he can measure or 
weigh, and which he tries to believe that he can under- 



MA TERIALISM. 1 1 3 

stand, — carries on his subdivision of matter to the atom. 
Here he rests. This imaginary thing becomes for him 
the ultimate and the only reality. Force, choice, and 
uniformity of action, all which he admits, are viewed by 
him merely as incidents of the atom. These realities, 
which even to his own mind are fully established, yet, 
simply because they cannot in their nature be seen and 
handled, be measured or weighed, are regarded by him as 
only incidental to that, of the existence of which he has 
no evidence at all, which he only imagines to exist. Pur- 
pose is something that the materialist finds it difficult to 
attribute to the atom, and so he shuts his eyes to it. He 
can see properties of matter. He is compelled, moreover, 
to admit that all physical results are dependent upon the 
possession by different forms of matter of these distin- 
guishing properties. But he can't see any purpose ; and 
this for no reason except that he cannot attribute purpose 
to the atom. 

Singularly enough, while the attention of this class of 
physicists has been fixed on material atoms so long, that 
it has come to be all the same as if they saw them, while 
these atoms are as real to them as witches are to Africans, 
they are in reality an impertinence in the atomic theory 
itself, as far as this theory is scientific. The only fact 
that is established by observation is, that substances 
combine with one another in multiple proportions. All 
beyond this is guesswork, or the opposite of science. It 
must in fairness be stated, that this is all that it is claimed 
to be. We have the law of multiple proportions, and on 
this law is based the theory of material atoms. 

So much for the attitude of the materialist. On the 
other hand, those inquirers who in observing employ also 
their spiritual apprehension, whose perceptions are not 
limited to sensible forms, but who are able also to see the 



I T 4 MA TERIA LISM. 

spiritual realities which are contained within and are mani- 
fested through these forms, perceive, clearly enough, that 
we cannot rationally conceive of force, or choice, or uni- 
formity of action, any more than we can conceive of 
purpose, as any thing less than attributes of a Being. 
They reason from their own consciousness. Respecting 
purpose and choice, they see at once that these are 
equally functions of mind ; and that neither one, and 
one no more than the other, can be conceived to be a 
property of matter. Uniformity of action is seen by 
them to be nothing less than uniformity of purpose, joined 
with absolute power of accomplishment. Force, when 
exerted by ourselves, is the expression of our wills ; and 
so the only conception of force in nature that can be 
formed by such minds is, that it is the manifestation of 
a will. 

As, therefore, the phenomena of nature are contem- 
plated by minds which are capable of this spiritual insight, 
the presence and activity of an infinite and changeless 
Being appears as the demonstrated truth. All those 
things which they observe reveal the attributes of such 
a Being. There is no point at which such minds can rest, 
at which their questionings can find intelligible answers, 
until they rest in the conception of such a personal Being. 
This is the view towards which leaders of scientific thought 
appear now to be generally tending. 

In " The New Chemistry " Cooke says : " The theories 
by which Ave attempt to explain these facts, and group 
them in our scientific systems, are, at the best, only 
guesses at truth." '' Everywhere in nature there seems 
to be a Presence, which not only imparts power to these 
particles, but also directs each particle to its appointed 
place." And again he remarks : " I have been called a blind 
partisan of the atomic theory, but I wish to declare my be- 



MA TERIA LISM. 1 1 5 

lief that the atomic theory, beautiful and consistent as it 
appears, is only a temporary expedient for representing 
the facts of chemistry to the mind. I have the conviction 
that it is the temporary scaffolding around the imperfect 
building, which will be removed as soon as its usefulness 
is passed." 

'The development of the mind, to whose illumined sight 
the universal presence of God in nature becomes obvious, 
will be considered in a subsequent paper, when this sub- 
ject shall be reached in the orderly sequence of our 
thought. Such a spiritual insight is, however, assumed 
to be possessed by the reader, at least in some degree, 
in the remarks with which this paper will be concluded. 

The theory of material atoms has been a real help, in 
the progress of the human mind toward its full develop- 
ment. This theory has served as the necessary step, by 
which men may mount, from the gross ideas of matter, 
up to the position from which they can reach forward to 
the truth. By the contemplation of these imaginary 
things, far removed from our sight, we have become, or 
are becoming, gradually prepared for the reception of the 
awe-inspiring truth, of what has so aptly been termed 
'■'' the Divine immanence " in nature, or the infinite mode 
of the Divine omnipresence. 

This truth requires for its complete apprehension only 
the full development of that spiritual perception which, 
however unconsciously, we begin to employ in the appre- 
hension of force. This same spiritual apprehension will 
enable us to see, that the universe of what we call matter 
is the infinitely varied manifestation, not of force only, 
but of all spiritual realities, in their unity, and of the In- 
finite Being in whom these inhere ; and that the creation 
has its chief value and significance for us as such m.anifes- 
tation. 



1 1 6 AfA TERIALISM. 

It would appear safe to say that if, at the commence- 
ment of the Christian era, our present knowledge of phy- 
sical truth had been possessed by mankind, the Church 
would not have lost, as, under the combined influences 
of paganism and barbarism, it did for so man}- centuries 
utterly lose, this vital conception of the Divine immanence 
or indwelling, both in nature and in the soul of man ; 
a conception that lies at the bottom of all right belief, 
whether this belief be termed scientific or religious. This 
truth seems to have been held with much clearness in the 
earliest Eastern churches. Religious thought is now slowly 
and painfully returning to it. Tiie human mind is gradu- 
ally approaching nearer to the perception of the universal 
and infinite presence of God.^ 

True science cannot impose a limit to thought, nor toler- 
ate an impediment to its progress. The following propo- 
sitions must become the axioms of liberated science : 

All spiritual realities are revealed to man, equally with 
physical realities ; 

This revelation is made in every manner that is best 
adapted to the supply of man's physical and spiritual 
wants, and to the development of his physical and his 
spiritual nature ; 

An equal apprehension of all spiritual realities is essen- 
tial to a correct conception even of physical truth ; 

Of these spiritual realities, force is the first that compels 
our attention, but all alike are the manifestations of a 
personal and present God. 

In the educational work that shall prepare the mind for 
the receotion of this true philosophy, mechanical science 
must bear a leading part. In otiier branches of physics 
students mav allow their minds to dwell on the fiction 
of material atoms, and may even regard these as ultimate 

^ The cxpressi<in "the Divine immanence " is occasionally heard among 
theologians, but ihe ideas attached to it are vague and utterly inadequate. 



MATERIALISM. \\y 

subjects of thought. But mechanical science leads the 
mind directly to force. Mechanics is the first of the sci- 
ences to arrive at the distinct recognition of this manifes- 
tation of the universal presence ; and it must operate pow- 
erfully to make, not force merely, but the other spiritual 
realities, which we shall see to be intimately associated 
with force, controlling elements in determining the future 
direction of thought. 

Confining our attention for the present to force, we 
perceive at once the necessity that the forces, which it is 
intended we should employ, shall be manifested to us 
in ways that will enable us to employ them. Now from 
the very constitution of our being we could know nothing 
about any forces, except through just such concrete em- 
bodiments of them as those which have actually been 
given to us. The inconceivably varied ways in which 
forces are manifested are all adapted to our nature, and 
to the service of our wills and the accomplishment of 
our purposes. The adaptation of man and these mani- 
festations of force to each other is mutual and complete. 

If only we are able to overcome the influence of false 
education, and the habit of using expressions ready made 
in the place of thoughts, we shall find it quite as easy to 
conceive all bodies to be, what undoubtedly they really 
are, manifestations of force, in modes adapted to our con- 
stitution and wants, as it is to conceive them to be aggre- 
gations of invisible material atoms held together by force. 
The real nature of all things with which we are so familiar 
is certainly wrapped in profoundest mystery. 

When, however, we extend our view, by the method 
hereafter to be presented, it will become apparent that 
force is only one of the spiritual realities by which we are 
environed. It is believed that it is not too much to say 
that the universe, as it is now shown to us, presents the 



1 1 8 MA TERIA LISM, 

complete manifestation of all spiritual realities, or the full 
revelation of the Infinite Being. This may at first appear 
to be an overstatement, but I am inclined to think that 
it is the true one, and that there are considerations which, 
if due weight be given to them, will appear conclusive of 
its truth. 

If the revelation of God be made in the creation, it seems 
inconceivable that it should be partially, incompletely or 
imperfectly made. The divine nature must be a unit, a 
whole, incapable of division in its expression ; so that, 
if God is revealed in the creation at all, it seems a neces- 
sary conclusion that he must be completely revealed. 

But not to us. Alas ! not to us. The knowledge of 
God, that we derive from this revelation, or the degree of 
this revelation to us, must of necessity be limited by the 
capacity of each individual to receive it. A limit to our 
perception is formed by the imperfect development of our 
nature in likeness to the nature of God. Our natures may 
be in a condition completely abnormal, so as to repel this 
revelation, instead of admitting it in even the least degree. 
From this state up to that entirely receptive condition of 
the soul — that perfectly harmonious nature — to which the 
presence of God in the universe could be imparted fully, or 
in an infinite degree, the change must be one wholly in our 
own nature, and not in the least a change in the revelation 
itself. 

In accordance with the universal law of spiritual percep- 
tion, by which like can be revealed only to like, we are 
able to perceive the being of God, and his presence in the 
universe, only in that degree in which our natures become 
like to his own. Here is found the natural explanation of 
the fact to which attention was called in an earlier paper, 
that, of the various manifestations of the divine presence 
which are made in the creation, men are ready enough to 



MA TERIA LISM. 1 1 9 

recognize those which they can conceive of independently, 
which they do not feel compelled to regard as such mani- 
festations of God ; while multitudes remain insensible to 
those other manifestations of his presence which, in point 
of fact, are equally obvious and equally universal, as well 
as equally necessary to us, our association with which 
is just as close, and our dependence upon which is just 
as absolute, but which, by the exercise of all our inge- 
nuity, we cannot separate from the idea of a personal and 
omnipresent Deity. 

Between these two classes of manifestations of the In- 
finite Being, namely, those which can be dissociated from 
Him in our thought, and those which cannot be so sepa- 
rated from Him, physical science, in the present stage of 
its growth, has assumed to draw a line, and to limit its 
view exclusively to force. 

Our subject, however, has only its beginning here. We 
shall enter the door that mechanical science opens so 
widely, and within which lies the whole realm of truth in 
its unity. 

In presenting the views above expressed, it has been 
necessary, in some degree, to anticipate conclusions which 
will be reached in subsequent papers. This is to be re- 
gretted, but it seemed unavoidable. If the reader now 
has difficulty in yielding assent to some expressions, I 
hope that as he proceeds he may find those difficulties 
disappear. 



THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 



The subject of force, as revealed in its effects, has 
already been considered. With the effects of force physi- 
cal science is concerned, but not with the nature of force 
itself. Science defines force to be something that produces 
or tends to produce motion. It does not inquire what 
this something is. This is a question about which it feels 
no interest. The inquiries of physical science are directed 
entirely to the modes and degrees of the manifestations 
of force. 

But there are other questions respecting force that are 
to be asked and answered. The first of these questions 
is: How do we get our notion or idea of force? We see, 
for example, water lifted and water falling ; we see vehi- 
cles and cars and boats put in motion, and kept in motion, 
by animals, by the wind, and by steam ; and with these 
phenomena, as well as with many others, we associate in 
our minds the idea of force being exerted. How do we 
get this idea ? 

Our conception of force is derived entirely from our own 
consciousness. I am conscious of the exertion of force 
myself, in a great number of ways. I observe the effect, 
in imparting motion to some object which is evidently 
produced by each of these exertions of force, and which 
effect it was my intention to produce by such exertion. 

I am conscious, also, of resistance which, in different 

1 20 



THE RE VELA TION OF FORCE. 1 2 1 

degrees, is opposed by objects to my exertion of force ; 
and which renders it necessary for me to exert my force in 
corresponding degrees, in order to overcome it, and pro- 
duce the motions that I wish to impart. 

Then I observe around me effects being produced, in 
imparting motion to bodies, that are similar to the effects 
which I produce by the exertion of my own force. When 
contemplating these effects I am conscious of sensations 
similar to those which I experience when exerting force 
myself. Especially if these effects are the same, both in 
kind and degree, as those that I have produced, the iden- 
tity of the sensation is very noticeable. 

For example, by working the handle of a pump I am 
able, with a certain exertion of force, to lift a column of 
water with a given velocity from a given depth. I see 
another person doing the same thing. Of course, I at 
once recognize the fact that he is making the same effort 
that I was making. Then I see the same thing being done 
by a windmill, or by animal power, or by an air-engine, or 
steam-engine. In either case, by the same association, 
and by an equal necessity, I recognize the fact that a force 
is being exerted by the wind, or the animal, or the heated 
air, or the steam, identical with that which I had exerted 
myself. 

For another example : I am taught that the atmosphere 
exerts a pressure of about 14.7 lbs. on each square inch of 
the surface of every object immersed in it. But if I try 
myself to lift a partially exhausted receiver I get an 
impression of this fact far more vivid than any words 
could give to me. I compare this pressure with other 
resistances which I am accustomed to overcome by my 
own exertion of force. 

These illustrations are sufficient to show the fact, that 
our perception of force is an act of recognition. We 



122 THE REVELATIOX OF FORCE. 

observe an effect, and we feel the same sensation that we 
felt when we have produced a similar effect ourselves ; 
and so we recognize the same force as being exerted. It 
follows, that a person not capable of exerting force, or 
who had in fact ne\'er made such exertion, would not be 
able to form an idea of force. This is undoubtedly true. 
One, for example, who had never lifted any thing could 
not form a conception of weight. No conception of 
weight, or of the exertion of force to overcome it, has, by 
our supposition, ever been formed in his consciousness, 
that could be recalled or revived by any effect observed. 
He would not recognize the exertion of force, and would 
be entirely unconscious of either force or resistance. His 
perception would be wholly limited to the motion that he 
sees. This is, in fact, continually the case with every 
one. Few persons, for example, can form any notion, 
from the movements of a steam-engine, whether any 
force is being exerted through it or not. This cannot be 
known even by an expert, unless he observes some par- 
ticular part of the engine where to his eye the amount of 
power transmitted is indicated.' 

In the manner above described, we form our primary 
conception of force. We conceive of it as an effort, 
applied to overcome a resistance, or an opposing force ; 
such an effort as Ave are conscious of making ourselves. 
But for this sensation in consciousness, corresponding 

^ It has been already observed, that the perception of force requires a cer- 
tain degree of spiritual insight. Corroboration of this is found in the fact 
that rude races have no proper idea of weight. They cannot penetrate 
beneath the external appearance. For example, on the coast of Africa 
tobacco is to-day sold at wholesale entirely by the size of the hogshead. 
The prime object of the traders is, to seem to fill the hogsheads with the 
least possible weight of tobacco. By ingenious packing they sometimes 
succeed so well, as to make 1,200 or 1,300 pounds of tobacco appear to fill 
a hogshead that is capable of containing 1,800 pounds. It is only recently 
that we ourselves have recognized weight as forming the true measure of 
quantity in the case of grain. 



THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 1 23 

with that which we have felt when we have put forth the 
exertion of force ourselves, and which sensation is revived 
or reproduced when we witness similar effects, we could 
have no idea of force, as exerted by other men, by 
animals, or by any natural agencies, nor of the resistances 
which these forces are exerted to overcome. Enveloped 
in a universe of forces, a being who had never himself 
made a conscious exertion of force could not recognize 
them, and so could form no notion of them, and could 
have no knowledge of their existence. 

This determination of the mode of our perception' of 
force is one of primary importance. This mode of percep- 
tion is not limited to force. It is the invariable mode of 
spiritual perception. We shall find that all other spiritual 
realities are, like force, perceived by recognition, and that 
we are dead to the existence of those of which we are 
not ourselves capable. 

It was observed respecting the perception of sensible 
objects and also of abstract truths, that the modes of these 
perceptions are precisely adapted to the natures of the 
objects revealed ; that in each case the mode of revelation 
employed is the only mode in which the revelation of 
that class of objects could be made to us, and that this 
mode of revelation, to tlie mind prepared to receive it, is 
conclusive as to the reality of the object revealed, and 
also as to the correctness of the mind's apprehension of it. 

Attention is now called to the fact that the same thing 
is true of the revelation of force to us by recognition. 
This is obviously the only way in which we could receive 
this revelation, and it is conclusive to our minds. No 
doubt as to the reality of force, or as to the correctness 
of our notion of it, ever occurs, or ever can occur, to any 
one. 

We note further that, as it would be absurd for one 



124 I^HE REVELATION OF FORCE. 

who could not form in his mind an image or conception 
of an abstract truth to deny its existence, so it would be 
as manifestly absurd for one who had no conscious ex- 
perience of the exertion of force to deny the existence of 
force. 

Our first question, How do we get our notion or idea of 
force ? is now answered, and we pass to the second ques- 
tion : What is force? This is a question of a still more 
serious nature, but it is one that admits of a definite and 
certain answer. 

Force constitutes one of the quarternion of spiritual re- 
alities. Truth, Beauty, and Love form the remaining 
sides of the four-square city. Force is, however, distin- 
guished from truth, beauty, and love in two respects. 
First, it has no opposite, and so it has in itself no moral 
quality. Second, while each of these realities is capable 
of different degrees of manifestation, force is the only one, 
the degrees of which are comparable and measurable with 
precision by man. We are conscious of different amounts 
or degrees of force, as exerted by ourselves. Starting 
from these, we are able, by mere multiplication or division, 
to express force in amounts which, on the one hand, are 
exceedingly minute, and, on the other hand, surpass our 
own powers to any extent whatever ; and we are able to 
state and, within moderate limits, to demonstrate these 
relative degrees of force with exactness. 

Forming our idea of force in the manner above de- 
scribed, which is obviously the only possible manner, we 
cannot, except by violence, dissociate in our minds the 
conception of force from the conception of a being, by 
whom the force is exerted, and whose purpose is accom- 
plished in its exertion. Of this being force must be one 
form of manifestation. Every exertion of it must be a 
direct expression of his nature. This we are conscious is 



THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 12$ 

the case in every exertion of force that is made by our- 
selves, and we see it to be the case in every exertion of 
force that is made by other men and by animals. There 
is no exertion of force by men or animals that we do not 
recognize to be the manifestation of spiritual qualities, or 
of a disposition. 

Concerning force as exerted by ourselves, we observe 
that it is not self-active, nor self-directed. It acts indif- 
ferently in any direction, for the accomplishment of any 
purpose, and as the manifestation of any disposition. In 
order that it shall be exerted at all, there must exist a 
mind, having a purpose to be accomplished, and a dispo- 
sition to be manifested. 

It is customary to say that force, as exerted by our- 
selves, is directed by the will, and there to stop, as if a 
full explanation had been given. A prominent example, 
perhaps the most prominent one, of thought arrested at 
the will, is afforded by the Westminster Assembly's Cate- 
chism. Take, for example, its definition of the decrees: 
** The decrees of God are his eternal purpose, according 
to the counsel of his will, whereby, for his own glory, he 
hath foreordained whatsoever comes to pass." This is re- 
markable for its outspoken character in this respect, as 
well as for the assent which it has received. 

When we look closely to find out what is meant by this 
expression, that force is directed by the will, we find that it 
does not mean any thing. If we search to discover how 
much progress we have made towards learning what it is 
that calls our force into exercise, and determines the direc- 
tion in which it shall be exerted, we cannot find that we have 
made any progress. If we have done any thing more than 
to substitute in the place of force another word that, so 
far as this inquiry is concerned, means the same thing, it 
will be found a very difficult matter to show what this is. 



126 THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 

The will is just as indifferent as force. It needs to be 
called into activity, and to have the direction of its activity 
determined, precisely as force does. Indeed, force, as ex- 
erted by man, is nothing but the physical expression of 
his will. Just as man receives his knowledge of the outer 
world through his physical senses, so he impresses his will 
upon the outer world primarily through his physical 
strength. In the case of a being who does not act through 
physical organs, will and force certainly may be, and so 
far as we can see they must be, one and the same thing. 
We have thus far merely found and identified, in the will, 
the spiritual form of force. It follows that the theology 
which stops at the will gets no nearer to God than does 
the science which stops at force. 

We must go back of the will, and inquire what it is 
that calls the will itself into activity, and determines the 
mode and direction of its activity. What is it that con- 
trols and guides our conduct ? It will be answered : Our 
conduct is determined by the purpose that we have formed. 
Still only words. Purpose is only another word which 
means the same thing. What has determined our pur- 
pose? Why have we formed this purpose, rather than 
the opposite one? 

We are now driven back to the real and only spring of 
all our activity, when this activity is exercised freely. 
We have reached the ego, the very /. We have found 
that which determines all conduct, and constitutes all 
character. We have arrived at the affections, at the emo- 
motional nature, which is, indeed, the whole nature of 
every being. Here we find the motive, the self-active 
and self-directed power. We have penetrated to the 
engine-room, and have found what it is that makes every- 
thing go. Here, at last, is the reality, the free emotional 
nature is force. All that this word force has been em- 



THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 12/ 

ployed to signify, and to which the application of it is 
commonly limited, are only those external manifestations 
or exertions of force which are observable by us through 
our senses. The self-active emotional spirit is the force 
itself. It will be found that there is no voluntary exer- 
tion of force, for which we are not obliged to go back to 
our emotional nature, to love or hatred, in order to find 
its primary animating cause or motive. 

This truth is one of supreme importance in a religious 
point of view. The contrast between Christianity and 
many human creeds lies in the fact, that the former pre- 
sents love, while the latter present mere will, as the mo- 
tive to the conduct of God. The Christ declared, " God 
so loved the worldy It is doubtful whether the meaning 
of this familiar text has ever been apprehended. Indeed, 
it is certain that its full meaning never can be appre- 
hended by a finite mind. Theologians generally would 
not admit the truth which it contains, if that truth could 
be stated. 

In the light which is shed upon this declaration by 
mechanical science, we see clearly enough that it cannot 
be a declaration of a special motive determining a single 
act, however important that act may be ; but that it is the 
declaration of a universal motive, which expresses itself 
alike in the work of human redemption, and in all the 
other conduct of God. The advance in religious thought 
which is now in progress, consists essentially in the pas- 
sage, or rather in the penetration, from will to love, as the 
recognized motive to all the Divine conduct. This transi- 
tion is by far the most important one that it is possible for 
the human mind to make. In order that the love of God 
shall be rightly apprehended, this love must be seen, not only 
infinite in its intensity, but also in its changeless universality, 
embracing alike every human being, precisely as the at- 



128 THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 

traction of gravitation embraces all matter. This advance 
in religious thought causes the once important subject of 
the freedom of the will to disappear, as a subject of prac- 
tical moment. It has, in time past, been necessary to 
contend earnestly for this freedom, against the doctrine of 
fatalism. Now man's free moral agency is regarded as a 
thing of course. The state of the emotional nature is now 
more clearly seen to be the single object of concern. The 
quickening into life of healthy or normal spiritual sensibili- 
ties is felt to be the essential thing. Just in the degree that 
this is done, must choice, purpose, the exercise of the will, 
all the activities of our nature, receive their true direction. 

Returning, now, to resume the consideration of force in 
its physical aspects, it is obvious, from the line of thought 
already followed, that any conception of force in nature 
which dissociates it from the idea of a Being is wrong. Such 
a conception is just what it claims to be — that is, no con- 
ception at all. It merely declares force to be somethings 
known only in its effects. If any definite or intelligible 
idea of force in nature is to be found, it must be that it is 
the manifestation of the nature of a Being. We repeat 
the appeal to our own consciousness. We are compelled 
to say, that force, when exerted by ourselves, is the out- 
ward expression of the real force within us, which is found 
in our affections. These are the ultimate and real spring 
of every free conscious act. Then the only conception 
that we can form of force in nature, and the conception 
that we must form of it, unless we refuse to form any at 
all, is, that this force, in all its varied forms, is the expres- 
sion of the nature of an Infinite Being. 

But our analogy carries us further than this. Our own 
affections cannot have for their object any form of what 
we term matter. This spring of our activity is never ani- 
mated by matter. Something beyond matter determines 



THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 1 29 

every exertion of force by ourselves. Matter may often 
be very closely associated with this outward manifestation 
of our spiritual activity, but it is always employed only as 
a means, never as an end in itself. The real object which 
calls our spiritual force into exercise, and so determines 
the outward expression of it, is always a being, either our- 
selves or another. Our own activity always terminates on a 
being, and every free, conscious act is performed with im- 
mediate or ultimate reference to a being, but for which 
being there would be no impulse to its performance, and 
it would not be performed. An inquiry as to the motive 
to any act will show this to be the case. 

We are obliged to complete our conception of force in 
nature in the same manner, and to regard it not merely as 
the expression of the nature of an Infinite Being, but, more- 
over, as the expression of such a nature with reference 
either to Himself or to other beings. And this is conduct. 
The fundamental importance of this truth is perceived at 
once. It changes the impersonal view of force in nature 
into a personal conception. 

I shall not enter further into this subject here, but in 
subsequent papers shall endeavor to approach the same 
great centre from other directions. 

At the commencement of the Civil War in America, the 
causes of it were discussed in England in essays and ad- 
dresses, in which allusion to the institution of slavery was 
carefully avoided. These discussions were humorously 
and happily likened to the play of Hamlet with the part 
of Hamlet left out. So physical science, with its objective 
methods, like a child whose thought does not get beyond 
what it can see and handle, endeavors to comprehend crea^ 
tion with the Creator left out. Science is, however, com- 
pelled to admit the existence of one reality, force, 
which is not revealed to us through our physical or^ 



130 THE REVELATION OF FORCE. 

gans of perception. Having arbitrarily severed force 
from its necessary connection with a Being, science is 
obliged to admit that it cannot form any conception of it 
at all. 

It is interesting to observe, how the very occupation, to 
which the materialist endeavors to confine himself, of 
weighing matter, of the existence of which only he is cer- 
tain, which he can see and handle, is after all nothing else 
than comparing the degrees of this first spiritual reality — 
the mystery of force. 



THE UNITY OF PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL 

TRUTH. 



Thus far mechanics has been considered as the science 
of force. It is more than this. It is also the science of 
truth. We have seen its power to free the mind from all 
forms of authority over thought and belief, and to lead 
the inquirer after truth directly to its source. Now we 
have to observe its influence in a somewhat different re- 
spect. It will be shown to render valuable aid, perhaps it 
should be regarded as indispensable aid, towards the true 
and healthy development of our spiritual being. It does 
this by disclosing the essential unity of physical and 
spiritual truth, and rendering it obvious that truth in its 
unity can be apprehended correctly only by the spirit in 
its unity. 

In introducing this subject, it seems necessary to antici- 
pate, in a single particular, the general subject of a subse- 
quent paper, by calling attention here to the harmony 
that appears between the physical and the verbal forms of 
revelation, in this respect of truth. 

The law of truth stands written in the human conscience, 
but the consistent observance of it is beyond the reach of 
human nature. This law has been inculcated by all sages, 
and it underlies the legislation of every age and every 
race. It commands the involuntary homage of men. But, 
practically, how fearful is the disregard of it ! 

131 



132 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH, 

One great want of the human race is the recognition of 
a high and unchangeable standard of truth. The need of 
the influence of such a recognized standard, rising before 
men in the midst of the daily affairs of life, inherent in all 
the associations by which they are surrounded, and con- 
tinually presented to their gaze, is painfully apparent, not 
only in the history, but also in the present life, of our race. 
The difficulty does not lie in the actual want of such a 
standard. The standards of truth exist, fully meeting 
these requirements, and entirely harmonious with each 
other. But these are not regarded by men. The human 
spirit is not opened to their influence. As far as possible, 
it refuses to recognize their existence. They present a 
perpetual and everywhere present reproach, the sight of 
which men cannot endure. 

First. The Bible unites with conscience, in erecting 
the standard of absolute, transparent, uncompromising 
truth. It is of the highest consequence, as well as inter- 
est, to observe that, while the several books of the Bible 
were written at intervals, extending certainly over more 
than fifteen hundred years, and by men of great diversity 
of character, under a great variety of circumstances, and 
in every different form of composition, this fundamental 
unity of truth, associated with other unities of a remark- 
able nature, runs through it from the beginning to the 
end. Everywhere simple, downright truth is demanded, 
and that in terms expressing the most exalted conception 
of it, as the foundation of character, on which alone it is 
possible for the structure of spiritual life to be erected ; as 
the fundamental element of the harmony which, in the 
normal condition of the human soul, would exist between 
it and the Divine author of its being, whose first attribute 
is declared to be truth that endureth to all generations. 

Second, We are now to observe how the physical modes 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 1 33 

of revelation, the nature of things by which we are en- 
vironed, harmonize with the Bible in this respect, how 
one law of truth runs through the spiritual and the physi- 
cal modes of being, and especially how mechanical science 
helps us to perceive and realize this identity. 

If we analyze our conception of truth in moral beings,. 
we shall find that this conception involves two wholly dis- 
tinct ideas. The primary or underlying idea is that of 
uniformity of action or conduct. We always know what 
the absolutely truthful man will do under given circum- 
stances. There can be no doubt or uncertainty about 
it. We know what to rely upon. This is the first idea. 
The second is the idea of justice. This man will do 
exactly what is right, as he views the right. Here the 
element of human fallibility comes in. He may be mis- 
taken in his view, but what he holds to be right, that he 
will do. His conduct will be guided by the highest and 
best motives of which he is capable. This is our concep- 
tion of truth in moral beings. First, uniformity of action; 
second, justice in action. 

Let us at first confine our attention to the primary or 
fundamental idea of truth, which is, uniformity of action. 
In this respect at least, one who comes to engage in the 
study of mechanical science finds that he has entered the 
region of eternal truth. Here nothing can by any possi- 
bility deceive or mislead or fail him. He can rest with 
absolute certainty in the confidence that, precisely as 
force is seen by him to act to-day, so under the same con- 
ditions it always has acted, and invariably and forever will 
act. This is a fact of unspeakable consequence. Not the 
student of engineering alone, but the whole race of man, 
in all its relations and employments, relies implicitly upon 
uniformity of action in nature. This reliance constitutes 
the foundation of the peace, and the encouragement to 



134 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

the activity, of every creature. Thus we find the primary 
idea, of uniformity of action, that idea which underlies 
our conception of truth in moral beings, exhibited in its 
complete and absolute realization everywhere in nature. 

It is difftcult to conceive of uniformity of action even, 
without a moral purpose of some character, either good 
or bad, beneficent or injurious, loving or hateful, kind or 
unkind. That is to say, it is difificult to conceive of action 
without an actor. Or rather, it would be difficult to form 
such a conception, if we had not from our infancy been 
carefully educated to do it. Materialistic science, encour- 
aged by the false religious conception of a remote God, 
has taken our education in hand, and has seen to it that 
we should be taught, in observing this uniformity of 
action in nature, to form an absolutely impersonal concep- 
tion of it. We have been brought up on the laws of 
nature. Truth in nature we have been taught to regard 
as uniformity of action, secured by obedience to law. All 
idea of a Being, or of a moral quality, in any act seen in 
nature, has been carefully excluded from the mind. 
Curiously enough, the very uniformity of action, which is 
the fundamental element of moral truth, which is the first 
thing we have to look for in the conduct of a perfect 
moral Being, the absence of which would prove at once 
the non-existence of such a Being, — this very uniformity 
of action is itself made use of to hide this Being from our 
sight. 

But in reality, nature presents to us far more than uni- 
formity of action merely. In nature the moral element 
and the Infinite Being are manifested in the clearest 
manner. Nature exhibits everywhere, not a partial, but 
the complete idea of truth. It shows us, not uniformity 
of action merely, but also the motive by which this action 
is directed. If we take a comprehensive survey of the 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 1 35 

subject, we can hardly fail to perceive everywhere a uni- 
form and obvious purpose. We shall see force in nature 
to be directed to a single end, and to be wholly beneficent. 
In this single beneficent end the infinite diversity of the 
manifestations of force have their unity. 

Let us commence our survey with the earth itself. We 
observe first of all that, as the earth flies through space, 
rotating on its axis, revolving about the sun, and attend- 
ing him in his grander orbit, by its attraction it holds 
both man and all his works, and all objects upon it, 
securely to its bosom. This is not a fanciful expression. 
It is a plain statement of the fact. From a contemplation 
of this supreme care, we may pass to consider, in a com- 
prehensive view, the multiplied and varied operations of 
all natural agencies. As here we contemplate the harmo- 
nious cooperation that we behold everywhere manifested, 
we cannot fail to perceive that every thing is fulfilling its 
appointed office within a plan. Whether we attempt to 
comprehend this plan as a whole, or endeavor to explore 
any separate detail of it, in either case we find our power 
of observation and of thought transcended. Its grandeur 
and its minuteness alike overwhelm us. 

We are able, however, to apprehend this plan sufifi- 
ciently well to perceive it to be animated by a central 
purpose, to the final achievement of which all subordinate 
results, in their own accomplishment, are obviously in- 
tended to contribute. We behold the earth, the air, 
water, light, and heat, with all manifestations of force, 
together with the inferior creations of both vegetable and 
animal life, in one grand harmony, ministering to the ser- 
vice of man. All these agencies combine, to sustain his 
being, to develop his powers and capabilities, to provide 
employment for both his physical and his mental activ- 
ities, and furnish incentives to their exercise, to supply 



136 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

the means for the accomphshment of his purposes, to 
delight his senses, and to call into exercise all the highest 
forms of his spiritual activity and satisfy their longings. 
Thus, in ways endless in their variety, all things minister 
to support, to illuminate, and to gladden the existence of 
man. There can be no question about this fact. Every 
increase in his knowledge, every improvement in his cul- 
ture, each enlargement of his powers of observation and 
of feeling, enables man to see the fact with increased dis- 
tinctness, and in a continually higher sense, that his own 
being and happiness is the immediate end of the creation 
over which he finds himself to be the lord, whom both 
things and inferior beings serve. This combined physical, 
intellectual, and emotional existence of achievement and 
joy in man is the single and obvious end of the unvarying 
activity that is to be observed in nature. 

From any candid consideration of this scheme, above 
all ideas of power and of wisdom that it conveys, the mind 
that is itself in any degree beneficent must just in that 
degree be impressed with a sense of the beneficence that 
is manifested in it. We say only that the beneficent mind 
must receive this impression, because, just as beauty can 
be revealed only to beauty, so beneficence can be recog- 
nized only by beneficence. And so, generally, whenever 
references are made to moral qualities, it must be assumed 
that these qualities are possessed in some degree by the 
reader. If they were not, the language could convey no 
meaning to him. 

We note that the grander the intellectual power of the 
observer of nature, the more he becomes amazed in the 
contemplation of the mighty plan ; and, on the other 
hand, the more highly his own beneficent disposition is 
developed, the more deeply he is affected by the consider- 
ation of the beneficent spirit by which this plan is ani- 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 1 37 

mated. We seem, then, to be warranted in the conclusion 
that both wisdom and beneficence are combined in this 
plan, in degree beyond our power to recognize, and that 
the limit to our apprehension of either is found in the 
imperfect development of wisdom and beneficence in our- 
selves. 

The reflections thus far made point to the conclusion, 
that truth in nature is something more than uniformity 
of action ; that it is uniformity of action with a beneficent 
purpose. But purpose and beneficence are both attributes 
of a being. We are thus brought to the necessity of ad- 
mitting, what the spirit of man in its healthy development 
recognizes with exultation and rapture, the existence of 
an Infinite Being, whose ceaseless beneficence is mani- 
fested throughout the material creation, and of which 
beneficence man is himself the supreme object. Like the 
Sabbath, all things were made for man.^ At a later stage 
of our argument we shall reach a still higher unity, in the 
adaptation of all things to a higher purpose. 

Such is the definition of truth in nature ; — uniform 
beneficent activity. The same definition holds good, also, 
of truth among men, with an apparent, though not a real, 
modification, that exists in the nature of things. Benefi- 
cence implies relations of superiority and dependence. 
There cannot be beneficence between equals. Here, evi- 

' In the interpretation of nature, the blind seem thus far to have had it 
pretty much their own way. We have been taught to repeat absurd expres- 
sions, founded upon supposed exceptions to infinite beneficence, as if these 
were the rule. Men liave been captivated by such senseless raving of 
morbid poets as, " Nature, red in tooth and claw." The earth exerts the 
inconceivable benefit of its uniform attraction, and the blind try to fix our 
attention on somebody falling from a precipice. The sun warms all being 
into glai! existence, and the blind see a man sunsiruck. The vital air 
supports all life, imparts joy with every breath, and brings health upon its 
gales, and the blind point us to cyclones, and so on to the end of the 
chapter. It is as if we gazed upon a glorious picture, and could see nothing 
but fly specks on it. The apparent exceptions to infinite beneficence, how- 
ever, demand thoughtful consideration. 



138 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

dently, the moral quality of truth is justice. Among men, 
various kinds and degrees of dependence are observed to 
exist. When considered alone, these differences of con- 
dition often seem to be extreme ; but when we take a 
more comprehensive view, we discover that in reality the 
range of this inequality is very limited indeed. One 
human being cannot be conceived to be dependent on 
the beneficence of another in any such sense as this, that, 
without the active exercise of that beneficence each in- 
stant, and in an infinite multitude and variety of ways, he 
could not exist. But this is precisely the sense, or the de- 
gree, in which ever}' creature alike is dependent on that 
beneficence which is uniformly manifested throughout the 
physical creation. Compared with this dependence of every 
being on the infinite beneficence, the beneficence and the 
dependence that are possible to exist between man and 
man very^ nearly disappear. 

Beneficence and justice are, however, essentially the 
same thing. These are words that characterize the out- 
ward act, rather than the inward sentiment or motive. 
The acts of beneficence and justice have their common 
source and motive in love. This is the supreme active 
principle. Its manifestations differ in form, as required by 
the varied relations of the beings in whom it exists. 
Thus love, the m.oral quality of truth, which between 
equals manifests itself in act as justice, assumes the form 
of beneficence on the one hand, and of gratitude on the 
other, just in the degree that these practical manifesta- 
tions of it are called for by the existence of the relations 
of superiority and dependence. These are all the natural 
expressions of the same sentiment or feeling of love, in 
different ways, as required by different conditions or rela- 
tions. These differences of manifestation may even exist 
in our consciousness, but all these sentiments, if sincerely 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 1 39 

felt, are in reality one. The sentiment of love to his 
neighbor Impels the true man to be just, or generous, or 
grateful to him, as these expressions of his love are 
demanded by the relations that he sustains. Beneficence 
and gratitude are reciprocally due, and the former equally 
with the latter, from man to man, when the relations of 
superiority and dependence exist between them. In this 
way, as in every other, love impels to the hearty rend- 
ering of that which is due. Thus all manifestations of 
love, in outward act, are properly embraced under the 
term '^ justice." This comprehensive idea of justice 
extends, it is true, far beyond the requirements of human 
laws, and far also beyond our ordinary habits of thought; 
but it is clearly seen to be the true one. The term '' jus- 
tice" properly comprehends every form of the outward 
expression of love ; the rendering of which expression 
affords, to the spirit in which the sentiment itself exists, 
and just in the degree in which the spirit is animated by 
this sentiment, the same joy that is kindled by the recep- 
tion of it. Truth universal we thus find to be reciprocal 
just action between moral beings. It is the expression of 
love and the source of joy. 

Love is thus seen to be the normal motive of conduct, 
and justice, in some one of its forms, to be its outward 
expression, in all cases alike, whether in the case of 
equality, or in the case of infinite dependence on the one 
hand and infinite care on the other. 

In the divine nature, the eternal changlessness of which 
mechanical science is educating mankind to form a con- 
ception of, it is thus obvious that no schism can exist 
between love and justice. Justice is a mode of action. 
It has only one opposite, and that is injustice. Injustice 
is sin, that shocks the harmony of the universe. 

In considering the subject of truth between man and 



I40 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

man, viewed as equals, or the practical application of the 
principles that have just been dwelt upon, in the daily 
intercourse of men, it becomes necessary to distinguish 
carefully between facts and ideals ; or, in other v/ords, 
between truth as realized, and the ideal of truth. For 
common and familiar illustrations of this necessity, we 
may take our commercial measures, the pound, the yard, 
the bushel. Persons who are accustomed to accuracy 
know very well that neither of these ideals could be abso- 
lutely given in any reality. But the faithful representa- 
tion of them, in quantities of things merchantable, with 
the closest attainable approach to accuracy, is honesty. 
Here we at once recognize justice to be the essential 
moral element in truth, and also the fact that every act 
of a being must possess a moral quality. Uniformity of 
action in giving short weight or measure is the opposite 
of truth. 

The ideal, as above illustrated, underlies all material 
realities. Through these realities, as the only possible 
way, the mind is continually endeavoring to reach the ex- 
pression of its ideals. Thus the mechanic has in his mind 
the ideals of mechanical truth, as of the true line, the true 
plane, the true cylinder, the true angle or division of a 
circle, the true divisions of force, of space, and of time, 
truth of form, and of construction, and of mechanical 
function. It becomes his highest aim to realize these 
ideals in sensible form, or, as it may be termed, in con- 
crete expression. To this end he exhausts his ingenuity 
in devising methods, and his skill in the application of 
them. 

The question naturally presents itself: Where is the 
moral quality found in this form of truth ? The answer 
to this question lies on the surface, as much so as in the 
case of the true pound, or yard, or bushel, which, indeed, 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. I4I 

are some of the very ideals that the mechanic endeavors 
to reahze and embody with exactness. In these, and in 
all other cases, men are dependent on the mechanic for 
the means of measurement. Upon his ingenuity and 
skill, directed to the realization of his ideals, in such ways 
that the expression of them can be uniformly repeated, 
all men rely, throughout their varied intercourse, and in 
their search after every form of knowledge of a physical 
nature. All other men are dependent upon the mechanic 
for the means by which to express, in reality, with the 
utmost attainable exactness, the ideal physical truths 
existing in their minds, and to discover those which exist 
in nature. The mechanic is thus called upon to perform 
a service of fundamental importance, and in undertaking 
this service he assumes a relation towards his fellow-men, 
in which justice demands from him the exercise of the 
most anxious fidelity. 

But we need not look so far as this. We may suppose 
that these uses for his labor are beyond his thought, and 
that his attention is limited to the truth itself; that he is 
endeavoring to realize this truth entirely for its own sake. 
In what he is doing he has now, by our supposition, no 
conscious relation with his fellow-men, but only with his 
own conception of the mechanical truth that he is seeking 
to realize or to express. Here the moral quality appears 
in fidelity to his ideal. It is obvious that he can be 
faithful or faithless to this, in the same sense in which he 
can be faithful or faithless to his fellow-men. There 
exists a moral quality in every possible act of man. He 
sustains always a relation of some kind, and whatever 
this relation may be, his conduct must be either true or 
false, just or unjust, right or wrong. 

The moral quality of truth among men is not, however, 
here at all in question. This is universal!)' recognized. It 



142 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH, 

is the moral quality of truth in nature that I am endeavor- 
ing to make clear, and the above elucidation of the general 
subject of truth is important only in its bearing on this 
demonstration, as it enables us to see in nature the pres- 
ence of the Infinite Moral Being with more distinctness. 
The moral quality of truth may properly be expressed by 
the word " faithfulness." Now the faithfulness of God in 
nature, as it seems to me, must be deeply impressed upon 
the mind that is capable of just sentiments, when it is 
considered what the consequences would be, if uniformity 
of action in nature could ever fail. 

These consequences, although unspeakably transcending 
them in degree, would be of the same character as those 
which follow from deceit, misrepresentation, or unfaithful- 
ness in man. Imagination could not conceive the effect 
upon the human race of a general loss of confidence in 
the uniformity of action in nature ; a confidence that is 
so absolute, and upon which all human affairs depend. 
When we reflect upon this view of the subject, we feel, 
indeed, that the expression " uniformity of action " is 
inadequate, even to mockery ; and that the only rational 
conception of truth in nature is that of faithfulness on the 
part of the Infinite God. 

Nothing is more instructive, and nothing can be more 
fascinating to the ingenuous mind, than the contemplation 
of this faithfulness, as it is manifested in the unvarying 
uniformity of constitution and operation of all things 
in nature, and the realization of our own helpless de- 
pendence on this fidelity. From the multitude of illus- 
trations, of this faithfulness on the one hand, and of our 
dependence upon it on the other, which crowd upon our 
attention, two, taken almost at random, must suffice. 

The first illustration is this: The constitution of the 
atmosphere, in the proportions of the two gases, oxygen 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 143 

and nitrogen, which compose it, is invariable over all the 
earth. Now of all the forms of matter that exist, or that 
can exist, in the gaseous state, and of all their combina- 
tions, it has been shown that this particular combination 
of oxygen and nitrogen is the only one that can sustain 
animal life. Not only in this the case, but, moreover, it 
is found that the least change from the existing propor- 
tions of these two gases, even though so trifling that all 
the analytical skill of the chemist is taxed to discover it, 
would produce injurious effects on every creature that 
breathes. Our admiration and awe are increased when we 
consider the fact, that no chemical union or combination 
takes place between these two gases in the atmosphere, 
but they exist together merely as a mechanical mixture. 
A great reason has been found why this needs to be so, a 
reason which will be stated in its proper connection by 
and by. But the mystery which strikes us dumb is, 
how these indispensable proportions are preserved. If a 
chemical union took place, then we might imagine that we 
understood it. But what determines and maintains those 
proportions in a mere mechanical mixture? This is 
something that we know nothing about. We can per- 
ceive or imagine no necessity, we are shut up to faith that 
these proportions will be preserved. 

The second illustration is this : The earth is not a per- 
fect sphere, but its equatorial diameter is 26.48 miles 
greater than its polar diameter. This excess of matter at 
the equator is the effect of the centrifugal force that is 
developed by the revolution of the earth on its axis. 
This centrifugal force sustains over all the globe a spher- 
ical crescent. The points of this crescent are at the 
poles. From these it gradually increases in thickness, un- 
til at the equator it reaches around the whole circle of the 
globe the depth of 13.24 miles. Thct portion of the 



144 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

earth's surface which is now solid, having assumed this 
general form when in a fluid state, might possibly retain 
this form, although some change had taken place in 
the forces by which it was originally determined. This, 
however, could not be the case with the fluid portion. 
The surface of the ocean is held at this elevation at the 
equator by this centrifugal force. Both on the equator, 
and at every other point of their surfaces, the oceans 
stand at the height that is determined by the equilibrium 
of the two counteracting forces, namely, the attraction of 
the earth and the centrifugal force developed by its revo- 
lution. A change of one minute in the period of the 
earth's rotation, or in the length of the day, would pro- 
duce a change of 196 feet in the relative heights of the 
ocean at the poles and at the equator. Should the day 
become shortened by this amount, a wave sufficient to 
produce this change would leave the equator on all sides 
of the earth and flow towards the poles. 

But we may sleep in peace, and go about our daily avo- 
cations undisturbed. Eternal faithfulness knows no relaxa- 
tion. Unhindered motion continues uniform forever. It 
is certain that since geologic time began the relative ele- 
vations of land and water on the surface of the globe 
have not suffered anv changes other than those of a local 
character, and referable to local causes. Even these 
changes have proceeded so gradually as to become sensi- 
ble only after long periods of time. There have been no 
alterations of a general nature, such as would indicate 
a sensible change in the rate of the earth's rotation. 

Thus mechanical science, using the term in its largest 
signification, as the science of force, shows us to be envi- 
roned with truth ; and, moreover, it habituates us to the 
continual association with truth, in the multiplied forms 
of its physical expression. In all these forms we have to 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. I45 

deal with it continually. The influence of this environ- 
ment of truth has already been largely felt, although as 
yet attention has been but little directed to it. Men have 
been mostly unconscious of its influence. This has been 
silently but none the less powerfully exerted. From the 
education that will, directly and indirectly, be afforded by 
mechanical science, it must result, that mankind generally 
will come to be more conscious of the manifestations of 
truth by which they are surrounded. The all-pervading 
presence of the Deity will come to be more generally felt, 
and will exert more and more its legitimate influence on 
human character. The ultimate extent of this influence 
will undoubtedly be greater and more beneficent than we 
are at present able to imagine. 

In an earlier paper allusion has been made to the rela- 
tion that the creation bears to us as our educator. Atten- 
tion was there called to what was termed the ministry of 
force. We have now been considering a higher form of 
this educational influence, which the physical creation is 
adapted, and was evidently intended, to exert on the 
character of man, and which we may term the ministry of 
truth. 

The observer of nature has the fact impressed upon his 
mind, more and more deeply, that the primary law of the 
universe is truth — uniformity of action, directed by love. 
He learns also the only way in which a moral being, 
endowed with a free will, can come to be in harmony with 
this universal law of truth. This must be established, 
also, as the law of his own voluntary activity, by the per- 
fect development of its motive ; so that it becomes the 
only manner in which it is possible for his volition to act. 
The necessity for this standard of truth in his own being 
is not at all affected by the fact, that he finds it too high, 
not only for his attainment, but even for his comprehen- 



146 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

sion. The attainment of it is clearly the only way in 
which truth in human beings can be made to conform to 
truth as this is set before us in the physical creation. 

So long, however, as physical truth continues to be 
falsely apprehended, it can exert but a feeble influence 
upon the spiritual nature of man, compared with the 
mighty benefit that should be received from it. Philoso- 
phers consider it scientific to exclude the Creator from his 
works. Metaphysicians until quite recently have taught 
that the mind is composed of separate and unrelated 
faculties; and the mental activity by which the moral 
quality in nature can be recognized we are to this day for- 
bidden to exercise for that purpose. 

In all systems of education, a wide distinction is still 
made between physical and moral truth, as being essen- 
tially different, and as being apprehended by us through 
different faculties or senses. We are taught that physical 
truth relates to things, and is apprehended by us fully and 
completely by the exercise of our intellectual faculties ; 
while moral truth relates to moral beings, and is appre- 
hended by us through our moral sense. We are taught 
that, by the employment of our purely intellectual powers 
we comprehend physical science in all its departments ; 
and with this science moral truth and moral sentiments 
and the emotional nature have nothing whatever to do. 
We are taught that between the laws of the physical uni- 
verse and the conduct of moral beings, as between the 
mental faculties by which the former are apprehended, 
and the moral sentiments that direct the latter, there ex- 
ists absolutely no relation. By most persons this would 
be laid down as an axiom, too obvious for discussion, 
needing only to be stated. To this height of absurdity 
have we been brought by a false system of education. 

All this elaborate artificial classification has already 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 147 

been shown to be wholly imaginary — as much the idle 
creation of the mind as is any system of idolatry. Here 
we find mankind lost in a morass of falsehood, out of 
which nothing can extricate us, except the recognition of 
the absolute unity of truth in its physical and its spiritual 
forms of manifestation, and also of the unity of the human 
spirit by which this truth is to be apprehended. 

Science would shut us up to the contemplation of law; 
the highest conception possible to be formed by what it 
terms the intellect ; the imaginary God of this imaginary 
member or organ of the human spirit. But the considera- 
tions which have been presented leave no room for doubt 
that the spiritual element is the fundamental element in 
physical truth, and that the idea of physical truth that 
does not embrace this feature of it is incomplete in a vital 
respect, and therefore is misleading in its influence. We 
are now able to affirm that every physical phenomenon is 
the act of an Infinite Being, performed with reference, 
either direct or ultimate, to inferior and dependent beings. 

Physical truth is then properly defined to be the conduct 
of God. It is the mode in which God deals with man, 
and works with reference to man. So, in its essential 
nature, as well as in the mode of its revelation to us, or 
of its apprehension by us, it is not to be distinguished 
from the conduct of men, or the mode in which they deal 
with one another. 

The recognition of force in the universe, without the 
recognition of the moral quality in every manifestation of 
force, as the act of a Being, is as if we should confine our 
attention to the mere exertions of force by men, without 
reference to the motives by which these were prompted 
and directed. The latter is something that the mind re- 
fuses to do. We know, our own consciousness assures us, 
that every act of man is directed by a motive. Then our 



148 PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. 

only possible conclusion is that every act of God is direct- 
ed by a motive ; and the imaginary distinction between 
physical and moral science, and the modes of their appre- 
hension, vanishes away. 

Attention has already been called to the fact, that this 
distinction, which has been made fundamental in our sys- 
tems of thought, and the effect of which is so unfortunate, 
is in reality only a distinction between those truths which 
can be considered without reference to a Being, and those 
which cannot be separated from a Being in our thought. 
All phenomena which men could consider separately from 
the idea of a Being they have so considered. They have 
formed such partial conceptions of them as they could do 
when thus cut off from their source, and these conceptions 
constitute physical science. 

The work of '' the understanding," about which we hear 
continually, is, in all the field of physical science, merely 
the activity of the mind in tracing relations, in distin- 
guishing, combining, and concluding, based on a partial 
apprehension of the facts ; when the facts of paramount 
significance are not present in consciousness. 

This partial philosophy receives but little check in those 
departments of science, in which the physical organs of 
perception are wholly relied upon, in which observation 
terminates on material forms, and in which it is possible 
for the thought of spiritual realities to be avoided. But 
mechanical science, which brings us into immediate con- 
tact with the omnipresent reality of force, and exhibits to 
us, in uniformity of action, the underlying and primary 
element of moral truth, contains a power that aids us ma- 
terially in the discernment of all spiritual realities. 

In a former paper we have considered the unity of the 
human spirit. Our present discussion enables us to afifirm 
the unity of truth. There is only one kind of truth, as 



PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL TRUTH. I49 

there is only one spirit in man to apprehend it. Truth in 
the physical creation is the conduct of God. Science is 
the knowledge of the conduct of God. Truth in man is 
conduct like the conduct of God. All truth involves 
spiritual being as an essential element of the conception, 
and requires for its correct apprehension the exercise by 
the human spirit of every form of its activity. 



THE PERCEPTION OF SPIRITUAL REALITIES 
BY RECOGNITION. 



God in nature is the supreme fact of science. Then, of 
course, He ought to be so regarded. But He is not gen- 
erally so regarded. There must be a reason for this re- 
fusal, and a reason which, when we come to perceive it, will 
appear to us adequate to account for the fact. This phe- 
nomenon, like all others, must have its complete explana- 
tion. It is only necessary that such explanation shall be 
pointed out. This will be attempted in the present paper 
and in succeeding papers. 

The real cause of the failure of the mind to perceive 
God in nature seems to lie in the mode of revelation, 
by which the knowledge of all spiritual realities is con- 
veyed to us. It has been shown already respecting force, 
that this first spiritual reality is perceived by recognition. 
We become aware of the existence of force only as we 
recognize it. Through similarity of effects produced, we 
recognize force as the act of a being ; an act similar to 
efforts which we are conscious of having made ourselves. 
It seemed obvious that one who was not himself capa- 
ble of exerting force could not form any idea of force. It 
is not necessary to repeat here the exposition of this un- 
doubted fact. 

We now note that the other spiritual realities, truth, 
beauty, and love, are revealed to our minds in the same 

150 



SPIRITUAL REALITIES. 15I 

way, or by recognition. Like force, they are of a nature 
incapable of being apprehended through our physical 
organs of perception merely. Still, like force again, they 
are revealed to us in some way. In some way, and in 
some degree, we certainly become aware of their existence. 
How do we come to have such cognitions ? We obtain 
them in a manner similar to that in which we obtain our 
knowledge of force. Through similarity of manifestation, 
in outward act, or visible or audible expression, we recog- 
nize that which we are conscious of experiencing our- 
selves. 

This is the only way in which such conceptions can be 
formed, in which the images of truth, or beauty, or love 
can be seen by us in consciousness. We recognize that 
which is like to our conscious selves. In addition to this, 
we also recognize that which is like to our ideal ; that is, 
which is like in kind, only transcending in degree, that of 
which we are capable ourselves. 

As one incapable of exerting force can form no con- 
ception of force, so one incapable of truth or love can 
form no conception of truth or love. Any expression or 
manifestation of these realities in others cannot sug- 
gest any corresponding sensations to him. He has no ex- 
perience that would enable him to recognize them. They 
revive no images in his consciousness. The same is true, 
also, of beauty ; although we cannot well consider the case 
of beauty until we shall have seen its true nature, and 
the identity of physical with spiritual beauty, which will 
form the subject of a later paper. 

This mode of perception of spiritual realities is not 
essentially different from that of the perception of objects 
of sense. In both perceptions alike an image is formed 
in consciousness. In the one case this image is like some 
external object. In the other case it is like some previous 



152 SPIRITUAL REALITIES. 

sensation. In each case it is only the image that is con- 
templated, and that is referred by us to- the object, or 
to the being. For illustration, we attribute whiteness to 
an object and purity to a soul by mental processes similar 
to each other, and which are founded upon images that in 
the two cases alike we have formed in our minds. 

The identity of these mental operations ought to be 
made entirely clear. In physical perception the likeness 
always stands to us in place of the reality. The purpose 
of all care in observation is to form this likeness correctly, 
and all errors arise from the failure to do so. Every sense 
is often called into exercise to verify the correct image 
in our minds. 

So, precisely, we observe the conduct of other persons, 
and we form images or conceptions of the motives that 
have actuated them to such conduct, or of the sentiments 
or feelings that are manifested by it. These images or 
conceptions we can form in only one way. We recognize 
the fact, that by similar conduct we should ourselves 
manifest or express such motives or sentiments or feel- 
ings. The images of them are revived in consciousness, 
and we attribute or refer these motives or sentiments or 
feelings to the person whose conduct we observe. This 
accounts for the fact, that ordinarily it is not possible for 
men to conceive of other men as being actuated to any 
particular conduct by motives different from those which 
they are conscious would impel themselves to the same 
conduct. 

Another result follows from this mode of spiritual per- 
ception. In advance of any conduct observed, it is the 
spontaneous impulse of the mind to perceive in every 
other mind the reflection of its own conscious self. We 
naturally refer the sensations and emotions of which we 
are conscious to other minds, precisely as we do to our, 



SPIRITUAL REALITIES. I 53 

own. Thus we intuitively expect from others the same 
conduct, or outward expression of the spiritual state, that 
would be natural to ourselves. 

Among spiritual beings in their normal condition, and 
for such beings this mode of perception of spiritual reali- 
ties was evidently designed, this expectation respecting 
the conduct of each other could never be disappointed. 
The conduct would invariably manifest the existence of 
love, and consequently of truth, in every one in equal de- 
gree, and complete harmony and sympathy would be the 
necessary result. 

But among men the realities of truth and love are 
developed in very different degrees, and these degrees 
at the best limited ; moreover, each one of these has 
its corresponding opposite, in falsehood and hatred, and 
these opposites are also developed in endless diversity of 
degree. These two classes of opposites, in their various 
combinations, constitute the varieties of human character. 

Under these abnormal conditions, the spontaneous in- 
clination still exists in each individual, to see in others 
only the reflection of his own conscious nature, to attrib- 
ute to others the motives and sentiments which alone he 
is able to conceive, and to reconcile all conduct observed 
with such motives and feelings. 

This tendency, which is now a mistaken one, is in some 
degree corrected by experience, in proportion as the 
judicial spirit is possessed. It is only by the exercise of 
this spirit that we are able to attribute conduct that is of 
a character more elevated than we ourselves are capable 
of to motives which we cannot comprehend, or of which 
we are not conscious. 

It is obvious that the complete want of the normal 
spiritual realities of truth and love, and still more the pos- 
session of their opposites, must of necessity render the in- 



1 54 SPIRITUAL REALITIES. 

dividual insensible to the existence of the former in other 
beings. He cannot recognize them. He cannot perceive 
their existence, in the only possible mode of such percep- 
tion. For him they have no existence. He is necessarily 
dead to them. This affords the explanation of the fact, 
which has already been stated, that like can be revealed 
only to like, beauty to beauty, truth to truth, love to love. 

The subject of ideals of truth and love, and conse- 
quently, as we shall see hereafter, of beauty, is an inter- 
esting and important one. Ideals of these realities are 
images of them which are perceived by us more or less 
vaguely, because in degree they transcend our own ex- 
perience, and so exceed our power to form images of 
them distinctly. It is to be observed, that our power to 
form these ideals, or indistinct conceptions of degrees of 
truth and love that transcend our own experience, in- 
creases with each increase of our conscious possession of 
these realities, or in other words, of our abilitv to form 
distinct conceptions of them. The higher the actual at- 
tainment, the higher becomes the ideal. 

This is in accordance with what is to be obser\-ed uni- 
versally. In looking at any object of sense, for example, 
the ignorant man is quite incapable of realizing that there 
is any thing before him that he cannot see. To the 
instructed mind, on the contrar}', just in proportion to 
the depth of its own real insight will be its further appre- 
hension of the existence of that which is beyond its 
power to discern. So precisely in the case of these spirit- 
ual realities. The greater the degree in which these are 
really possessed, the more capable the spirit becomes of 
realizing the facts, of their infinite nature, and of the 
limited extent to which it can form distinct images or 
conceptions of them, or become distinctly conscious of 
their existence. 



SPIRITUAL REALITIES. 1 55 

When we shall come to consider the combined manifes- 
tation of all normal spiritual realities in their harmony, 
which is beauty, the occasion will present itself for view- 
ing this general subject of spiritual recognition somewhat 
more in detail. The observations already made seem to 
be sufficient, to show this recognition to be the necessary 
mode of the revelation of these realities. 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 



In the preceding paper a brief exposition was given of 
the mode in which all spiritual realities are revealed to 
man. It would seem to follow, necessarily, that the 
supreme spiritual reality, the Infinite Being, in whom 
force, truth, beauty, and love inhere, from whom these 
proceed, of whom they are the manifestation, can Himself 
be revealed only in the same way, or, by recognition, 
as our ultimate and adored ideal. The importance of 
this subject, and the radical error underlying the- view of 
it which is commonly held, and which has become fixed 
by our education, demand for it, however, a separate and 
full discussion. It is undoubtedly necessary that the ap- 
plication to the revelation of God, of this law of spiritual 
perception by recognition, should be distinctly shown. 

When, in another stage of being, our eyes shall be 
opened, or our power of spiritual recognition shall be en- 
larged, the overwhelming fact will burst upon us, that God 
had been before us every instant of our existence, and 
had been revealed in every possible way ; that all things 
had combined to show the supreme truth of his presence ; 
and that, while the few had faintly and dimly realized the 
enrapturing revelation, the mass of mankind, through 
inability to recognize infinite and universal love, had been 
stone-blind to it all. Amazement will fill the soul, as it 
recalls, in every activity of nature, the ceaseless revelation 
of God. 

156 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 1 5/ 

The mistaken views and confusion of thought that pre- 
vail on this subject, of our apprehension of the being of 
God, have their roots in the artificial imaginary divisions 
of the human spirit, and the arbitrary allotment of sepa- 
rate functions to its supposed organs. Thus it is assumed 
that the emotional nature has no perceptive power. It is 
taken as an axiom, that I cannot love, except as first I 
have an intellectual apprehension of the being that I am 
to love. The fact that love only can recognize love, that 
it is only through such recognition that the spirit in 
its unity obtains its knowledge of the existence of this 
principle, or emotion, or motive to action, in another 
spirit, and of God, who is love, is a fact that has not itself 
been generally recognized. Hence this confusion. 

The first step toward a right understanding of this im- 
portant matter must be to disabuse our minds of the idea 
that the being of God is, or can be made, in any degree the 
subject of our intellectual apprehension. This proposition 
will, of course, seem a very strange one to the reader who 
assumes our intellectual apprehension to be our only 
mode of apprehension. The error lies in this very as- 
sumption, the unfounded nature of which I shall endeavor 
to show. 

A disposition still exists among theologians, although 
less strongly marked than it has formerly been, to exalt 
the reason, and in some vague way to rely upon it as a 
source of spiritual knowledge. In this theologians have 
only followed the prevailing philosophy. They have per- 
severingly tried to find in the reason the means of reaching 
the unseen, of attaining a knowledge of what has been 
called the supernatural. In this they have repeated the 
folly of the builders of Babel, apparently comprehending 
as little as they the nature of the structure that shall 
" reach unto heaven." Mechanical science has made clear 



158 THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

the futility of all such efforts. It shows us that the mental 
processes, which, in common parlance, men call the exer- 
cise of the understanding, do not afford the means of 
arriving at any truth except in the region of pure mathe- 
matics ; that, with the exception of these ideal truths, all 
realities, both those of a physical and those of a spiritual 
nature, are revealed to us in other ways. It shows us still 
more than this, namely, that respecting all realities of a 
physical nature, our reasoning needs to have its errors cor- 
rected by observation at every step. Now, the speculative 
mind loves to get far away from these physical fields, into 
regions where it is secure from these tests of observation. 
But the analogies of mechanical science follow it there. 
There is no escape from the searching question : If in 
things with which we are most familiar, and where the 
truth is well established, it is not possible for the mind to 
advance one step alone without the certainty of falling into 
error, what confidence is it possible for us, as reasonable 
beings, to put in speculations of the understanding, or so- 
called intuitions of the reason, where our vagaries cannot 
be corrected ? In these highest departments of truth also 
it is evident that we must seek for, and recognize, and 
submit to, the guidance of revelation, if we would have 
our belief here rested on the same secure foundation, on 
which we have rested our belief of physical truth. The 
mode of revelation of the highest spiritual truth becomes, 
then, the subject of supreme interest. 

It occurs at once to one educated in the prevailing 
philosophy, and whose thought is bounded by its formu- 
las, who cannot receive into his mind the truth of the 
exclusive perceptive power of love in its own province, to 
ask: *' How can I love God, unless I first have a belief in 
his being, which belief I arrive at by the exercise of my 
reason or intelligence ? " This question appears unan- 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 159 

swerable to those who have been educated to regard love 
as a mere sentiment, and to rely on what they call their 
intellectual faculties as the only means of knowledge. 
According to this philosophy, the knowledge must exist 
first, obtained in some other way, before the sentiment 
can have any object for its exercise. 

We observe that this question assumes belief in the 
being of God to be one thing, and love for him to be quite 
another and a subsequent thing. Such a conception of 
the subject is apparently fortified by the fact, that the 
existence of God is confessed by very many persons, who 
yet profess to feel little or no regard for Him. The answer 
to this question is, that the imaginary being, of whom men 
can form an intellectual idea, is not God. The under- 
standing leads men astray here as completely as we have 
seen it to do in the search after physical truth. The God 
of the understanding is the work of men's imagination. 
He is not their Creator, but their creature. They have 
created him, and have made him a being like themselves, 
and so quite within their comprehension ; only greater 
than they, just as the forces manifested in nature are 
greater than those which they can exert. It is evident on 
reflection that the mental process by which this imaginary 
deity is formed is not to be distinguished from the process 
by which men create idols, and attribute their own quali- 
ties to them. The utmost that our God-makers do, or can 
do, is to select their own good qualities or ideals, or those 
which they believe to be such, and in which belief they 
are always in a greater or lesser degree mistaken, and to 
invest their handiwork with these. Each person has his 
own ideal, and so makes his own God, about whom his 
conceptions are generally pretty definite. In the study 
of all things in nature we are directly lost in mysteries. 
We may, perhaps, make as much progress toward a com- 



l6o THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

plete understanding of common objects of sense, as a 
miner makes toward reaching the centre of the earth. 
But when we approach the infinite mystery of the being 
of God, we are content to create in imagination a 
being adequate to make and to do what we observe to 
be made and done, and to say: '* This is God." This is 
the work of what we call the intellect, by which we mean 
here the imagination. As if conscious, however, of the 
imposition, men are inspired by this imaginary deity to 
no act of worship, or feeling of love, or exercise of faith. 
They recognize no personal relation between themselves 
and their handiwork. 

A chief cause of the error here is to be found in the in- 
Huence of human analogies, which, w^hen pressed too far, 
are always misleading. We observe concerning our fellow- 
beings, that in order that we shall love them, we must first 
obtain through our senses evidence of their existence. We 
form images of them in our consciousness, which images 
are determined by the reality before us, and with which 
images we then proceed to associate conduct observed, and 
sentiments and feelings, Avhich we attribute to them, and 
which are limited by our own. Thus we naturally get a 
corresponding idea respecting our knowledge of God, that 
we must first form an image of God in our minds in some 
way, and afterwards come to love Him. It is necessary 
that we should be completely freed from the influence 
of these misleading analogies. Then when we come 
to look for the process of, first, the intellectual apprehen- 
sion of God, and, second, the awakening of the feeling of 
love for the Being thus intellectually apprehended, we 
find there is no such process ; but our only possible 
apprehension of God that is true, in the degree that we 
are able to form it, is the apprehension which is formed 
by the recognition of love alone. 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. l6l 

Science affirms God to be the unknowable and the un- 
thinkable. In this declaration science is right. Its error 
lies in paying no regard to the real mode of spiritual per- 
ception, by which the revelation of God is in fact made to 
us, and which is the only possible mode of such revelation. 
But this conclusion of science, that the human intellect is 
incapable of arriving at any knowledge of God, is not new. 
It was anticipated long ago. " Who hath known the 
mind of the Lord ? " " Canst thou by searching find out 
God ? " " The heavens are higher than the earth, so are my 
ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your 
thoughts." The living force of this language, and of other 
expressions of similar import in the Bible, and the infinite 
depth of meaning that these possess, contrast in a striking 
manner with the lifeless formulas of philosophic construc- 
tion. The latter mark the hopeless end of philosophic 
thought. The former are the sublime beginning of reve- 
lation. 

But while ignorant of the true mode of this revelation, 
we cry: " If God be, indeed, the unknowable and the un- 
thinkable, then he has not everywhere revealed himself to 
us." " Then it is not true that our whole being, with all its 
powers, has been adapted to the supreme purpose of be- 
holding him." Peace, troubled soul ! How should the 
infinite be revealed to the finite? A very slight exercise 
of the understanding would seem sufficient to show how 
futile the search after God must be, that is conducted 
within the limits of human processes of thought. If man 
were only a reasoning machine, then mere uniformity of 
action expressed as law would be his ultimate conception. 
Then it is certain that not God alone, but all spiritual 
realities, would be hidden from him, For him they would 
have no significance. He would be without power to recog- 
nize their existence. 



l62 THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

In accordance with the law of all spiritual perception, 
and, indeed, in accordance with the law of perception uni- 
versally, we perceive the being of God only through the 
spontaneous and necessary recognition of him by the spirit 
in its activity of love. As all the manifestations of God, 
in the modes of force and truth and beauty, have their 
unity in love, as love is the essence of the divine nature, 
and the motive to all divine conduct, so also the affec- 
tions constitute the whole spiritual nature of man, and 
the motive to all his activity. If these are in their 
normal state, then they are in harmony with the nature 
of God, and the spirit necessarily recognizes His univer- 
sal presence. If the spiritual nature of man is not in 
complete harmony with the divine nature, as indeed it 
cannot be, then it can recognize God only in a degree, 
in such degree as it is able to form the image or ideal of 
Him. If it does not spontaneously form such image or 
ideal in any degree, then it must be dead to his existence. 

For the correct apprehension of this, the only possible 
mode of the divine revelation, it is necessary at first that 
we should consider man, not as in fact he is, but as he 
would be in his normal state ; a state in which universal 
love is the ceaseless animating force, in which every 
thought is suggested by love, and every act is the expres- 
sion of love. In this normal state, man would necessarily 
be conscious, above all other things, of his environment 
of universal love, and this is God. 

The being and the love of God are convertible terms. 
This was true of the divine man. It would also be true of 
man universally in his normal state, which we are now 
supposing. In this state, love in man would differ from 
love in God only in degree, according to the capacity of 
his nature, love in God being infinite. In this normal 
state, man would receive the revelation of God, in becom- 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 1 63 

ing conscious of the universal reciprocity to his own love. 
He forms no conception. He only loves. Every other 
being is equally the object of his love. He is conscious of 
love in return from every other being. Above all he is 
conscious of an environing Being, who is infinite love. 
The latter recognition becomes necessary from the fact 
that in this state man has been made in the spiritual 
image of God, and must recognize his own likeness or 
ideal. He feels the spontaneous and supreme impulse to 
love, and also the corresponding longing for love. In the 
complete satisfying of this longing he recognizes infinite 
love, and becomes aware of the harmony of which he 
forms a part. The conscious particular recognizes its 
universal. 

In this normal state, the spirit must see God, precisely 
as the open eye must see objects in nature, or as the mind 
must recognize familiar truths, and that for the same 
reason, namely, that this recognition, and consequent 
communion and joy, are the very purposes for which 
man's spiritual nature, with its power of perception, was 
given him, the end which it was especially adapted, and 
which it was evidently intended to serve.^ 

God having been first revealed in the spirit, the universe 
is then seen to be the manifestation of his love, and 
becomes animate with his presence. Every thing then 
appears in its true character, as a mode of the endlessly 
varied activity of infinite love; and the spirit rejoices, 
with rapture unspeakable, as a being receiving, and 
responding to, and so communing in that love. 

This recognition of the soul is, then, the mode of the 
revelation of God. But to us, in our abnormal state, this 
revelation is, of necessity, dim and obscure, even at the 

■* For the remarkable proof of this necessary recognition that is afforded 
by the analogies of mechanical science, see pages 199-201. 



164 THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

best. The direct and immediate recognition of God by 
the soul is feeble, on account of the feeble degree in which 
universal love is developed in our nature. The external 
perception of His presence is necessarily imperfect in the 
same degree, for we can see or can recognize, without, 
only those spiritual realities that we have already felt 
within. Among men, therefore, the revelation of God, or 
the spontaneous recognition of God in the soul, must be 
a matter of degree, according to the development in this 
respect of each spiritual being. In this degree, and in 
this degree only, every physical sense becomes a medium, 
through which the sympathizing spirit recognizes its own 
image or ideal, and so in part beholds the activity of 
universal love. 

It should be observed that, while to man in his normal 
state the recognition of God must be complete up to the 
full capacity of his nature, still this recognition can never 
become complete, in any thing like the absolute sense of 
that term. The true conception of perfect beings must 
doubtless be that of endless growth, with always an ador- 
ing consciousness of depths unfathomed in the love of 
God. 

The idea is a prevalent one, that love to God may result 
as an effect or consequence of the purely intellectual study 
of his works. This is the same error that has already been 
exposed, only modified in its mode of statement. Strange 
as it may at first seem, the fact is, that where love to 
God, or, correctly speaking, that love by the spontaneous 
activity of which God is recognized or revealed, does not 
already exist, in some degree at least, the effect of the 
study of His works is invariably to hide Him more and 
more from us. 

On reflection, the necessity for this result becomes 
apparent, and it affords a full demonstration of the cor- 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 1 6 5, 

rectness of the view of spiritual revelation that is here 
taken. In the case supposed there exists, if not a positive 
antagonism, at least a complete want of sympathy or 
harmony, between the soul and God ; and therefore the 
spirit cannot perceive Him, has no power to recognize 
His existence. 

In its merely intellectual activity the spirit of man 
works mechanically. This mechanism itself feels no 
interest, forms no purpose, provides no impulse. It works 
in any direction indifferently, as impelled and guided by 
the emotional nature, by the /, by love or hate, in the 
degree of its development, either to build or to destroy., 
Even in the study of nature for the very purpose of find- 
ing evidences of design requiring a designer, when the 
thought is arrested here, the mind is as indifferent as is, 
the eye to the shape of an image that is formed within it, 
or the hand to the purpose for which its muscular power 
is being exerted. 

Thus it is clearly shown that the recognition of the. 
being of God does not wait, or in any manner depend, 
upon the manifestation of God to our senses. On the 
contrary, this recognition must have been made by the 
spirit already, in the only possible way, namely, by the 
spontaneous action of similar love existing in the soul, 
responding to the universal environment of divine love, in 
order that the sensible expressions of the love of God 
shall be discerned at all. Otherwise the spirit is dead to 
them. 

This is a fact of ordinary experience. That all the 
common and familiar operations in nature are in reality 
the manifestations of the infinite love of God, in its cease- 
less activity, is an idea that no man, whose nature is not, 
at least in some degree, in harmony with the divine 
nature, is able to entertain for an instant. That all force 



1 66 THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

is the personal act of the omnipresent God, extending not 
only to the most common and minute things, but, more- 
over, in every thing extending to where minuteness be- 
comes lost in infinity, this to such a mind is foolishness. 
A remarkable feature of the case appears in the fact, to 
which reference has already been made, that the unvary- 
ing uniformity of all natural operations, that very charac- 
teristic of them which is fundamental in our idea of truth 
in moral beings, which is the necessary expression of 
eternal faithfulness, is the feature that operates most 
effectually to hide God from the sight of men. They 
could recognize superior power in exceptional phenomena ; 
but the changeless love that shines in the life-giving sun, 
this they cannot see. The very constancy of the benefi- 
cent conduct of God thus absolutely forms a barrier to 
his recognition. 

Again, wherever God has not already been spiritually 
recognized, the perfection manifested in every part of the 
creation, and the harmony that pervades all natural opera- 
tions, produce on the mind the same blinding effect. 
While the illumined spirit, united with God in the har- 
mony of universal love, rejoices in the manifest glory of 
the Infinite Father, the merely philosophic mind, accord- 
ing to the present limited use of this term, or the mind 
that is shut up to merely intellectual processes, sees only 
the ordinary and regular operations of nature. With this 
absolutely impersonal and therefore meaningless expres- 
sion, what is now called the philosophic mind rests quite 
satisfied. Beyond this it feels no interest, and therefore 
it can discover nothing. 

If, then, we can only be freed from the influence of a 
false education, which has itself been directed by blind 
philosophy, we shall be able to perceive clearly enough, 
that our belief in, or knowledge of, the true and living 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. 1 6/ 

God cannot precede, but must wholly consist in, the spir- 
itual recognition of the soul in love ; and that the effect 
of this sympathetic union with God is, that the mind 
becomes illumined to see that which was before invisible, 
to which it had been completely insensible, and that now, 
under the impulse of normally awakened affections, the 
thought can no longer stop nor be arrested, until it has 
penetrated into the universal presence of God, and 
contemplates in all things the working of his infinite love. 

The truth of the view that has been here presented is 
shown in its power to clear away the cloud of difficulties 
with which this subject has been darkened, and which 
has produced a disastrous effect on many minds that 
have been earnestly seeking for the light. 

It has been taught, and generally assumed, that the 
God of nature, or God as revealed in nature, is intellectu- 
ally apprehended by us. We are indebted for this idea to 
what is known as the science of Natural Theology. Now, 
our argument has certainly advanced far enough to 
expose the absurd falsity of such a proposition. The 
God of nature is certainly identical with the God of grace. 

Then the difficulty has always been felt to be a serious 
one of connecting this supposed God of nature with the 
infinitely loving, merciful, forgiving Father who is re- 
vealed in the Bible. A chasm has seemed to separate 
the two. And well it may have done. For the supposed 
God, thus intellectually apprehended, has no existence. 
This is another of the fictions of the human mind. There 
is no such Being. The living and true God is not intel- 
lectually apprehended. It suits human pride to assume 
that the intellect of man must have something to do with 
our perception of God ; but human pride is itself the 
great obstacle to this perception. All truth must be 
sought in the deepest humility. This is preeminently the 



l68 THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

case with the highest truth of all. It is God dwelling in 
us, actually present in our consciousness, whom we recog- 
nize. The Apostle John expressed the truth exactly 
when he said : " He that loveth not knoweth not God, 
for God is love." 

The spontaneous activity of the spirit in love is to be 
observed in little children. All that the conscious spirit 
does, before it can reflect or understand, and prior to any 
experience, is to love and trust. The latter act rests upon 
the assumption of universal love like its own. Manifesta- 
tions of these feelings of love and trust constitute the 
child's first signs of recognition. That love and trust are 
natural and intuitive is shown in the universal fact, that 
the child is delighted by manifestations of responsive love, 
and is grieved at the want of them. 

We are inspired with new admiration when we observe 
that, as it is the most important of all things that we 
should have this knowledge of God, or this power to 
recognize Him, so the activity of the spirit in love, by 
which activity, just in the degree that it assumes a univer- 
sal form, God becomes spontaneously recognized, is the 
earliest of all spiritual activities to be developed and 
exercised. So also all the endearing relations of life are 
symbols of the far closer relation of the soul of God. As 
these relations appear in succession from the opening to 
the close of our earthly existence, unsealing successive 
fountains of happiness, they are adapted and evidently 
intended to preserve the love and trust of infancy un- 
blighted, and to lead it to the recognition of God as its 
supreme object. Here we recognize the meaning of the 
command of the Christ, that we must become as little 
children. We see this, like all the commands of the Bible, 
to be merely the expression of a command that exists in 
the nature of things. Care and trust are the reciprocal 



THE REVELATION OF GOD. l6o 

expressions of the love, respectively, of protecting and 
dependent beings. The former expression of love actu- 
ally does exist, the latter is possible to exist, between 
God and man in infinite degree. 

In concluding these observations, attention is called to 
the fact that the revelation of God, like the revelations of 
inferior truths, is of a nature adapted to bring to the 
spirit receiving it full and entire conviction. The spirit 
rests in this sure belief. This contrast is to be noted 
between this revelation and all superstitious beliefs, that 
when the revelation of God has been received in this 
manner, then the more comprehensive the knowledge, 
and the more profound the intelligence, the more certain 
becomes the perception of its truth. 

It is further to be observed, that we can never rise above 
the analogies that are afforded by mechanical science. As 
in that science, so here also, experiment is the only source 
of knowledge. Here as there, men can only idly pretend 
to reason about that which they have not experimentally 
established. The personal relation of the soul of man with 
God is something that can only be known experimentally. 
It is obviously impossible for the mind that has not 
received the knowledge of God by the recognition of his 
infinite and universal love to know any thing about Him. 
And for such a mind to deny the existence of God, or to 
discuss the subject of his being, or to entertain any 
opinion whatever concerning it, or respecting the relations 
between man and God, is clearly just as absurd, as we 
have seen it to be for one to reason about the existence of 
objects which are not revealed to us through a process of 
reasoning, or, on the other hand, for one who knows only 
about objects that are revealed through the physical 
senses to express an opinion respecting ideal truths. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 



We have now finished our brief and necessarily very- 
general survey of the physical and spiritual modes of 
revelation. These modes have been seen to vary, as 
is rendered necessary by the varied nature of the truths 
revealed. We have observed that every bodily sense, and 
every mode of activity of the spirit, are called into exer- 
cise, to serve as media for the revelation to man of physi- 
cal and spiritual truth, and that each one of these in its 
office, and the spirit in its unity, are adapted for the trans- 
mission and the reception or apprehension of every form 
of truth. This adaptation includes, of course, historical 
truth, which has not yet been considered. 

There remains an auxiliary to these means for the com- 
munication to us of revelation in its varied forms, and that 
is the gift of language. Verbal revelation of the highest 
spiritual truth is what we should naturally look for. If 
all truth is revealed to man, and every thing is employed 
as a means of imparting this revelation, and our senses 
and our mental powers have their supreme use as the 
media for its reception, all which we have seen to be the 
case, then it is at least a reasonable inference that the gift 
of language must also be employed for the same great 
purpose. 

Language has this supreme use, that it is adapted for 
the communication of truths of the highest consequence. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 171 

which, being historical, could not be imparted to us in 
any other way, as well as of those truths, to the perpetual 
revelation of which in nature we are, in our abnormal 
state, nearly or quite insensible. 

We have that which claims our acceptance as such 
verbal revelation. We have a book, which purports to be 
the actual employment, by the Giver of language Himself, 
of this highest physical gift for its highest possible use. 
The question presents itself: Is this book to be accepted 
as true ? Written by men, as necessarily it must have 
been, did the Bible, nevertheless, emanate from the Infi- 
nite Mind, the source of all truth ? In its essential teach- 
ings is the Bible the word of God ? For the determina- 
tion of this question, our present subject suggests a line of 
inquiry that seems to be fundamental and searching. It 
suggests the question : Is this book in harmony with the 
physical revelation ? Is its language the verbal expression 
of truth, as this is found to exist in nature? Do its com- 
mands call for the conduct that would be natural to moral 
beings in their normal condition? In brief, is the God of 
nature also the God of the Bible ? 

The God of nature is seen to be a Being of infinite, 
universal, and changeless love. Having first been spiritu- 
ally recognized. He is then seen to fill all things. These 
are then apprehended as the universal manifestation to 
man of the being and nature of God. Is the same mani- 
festation contained also in the Book? 

When we approach this subject, the fact that first pre- 
sents itself is, that the Bible alone declares the existence of 
one God ; not of a divided sovereignty, nor of inferior 
divinities, but of one Jehovah. Nature declares this to be 
the truth. The unity and harmony everywhere observable 
forbid any other supposition. Science has been truly said 
to be the grave of polytheism. At the outset, we find this 



1/2 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

fundamental agreement between the Bible and physical 
revelation. 

Again, the Bible declares God to be a spirit, whom no 
power has been given us to discern, admitting of no man- 
ner of similitude, of whom our spirits, in their form-con- 
structing activity, can create no image ; but with whom 
we have relations far more close than we are able to con- 
ceive, and with whom, moreover, our spirits may have im- 
mediate personal communion, the intimacy of which has 
no limit except that which is imposed by the imperfect 
nature of our love, or, in other words, by the limited de- 
gree of this form of our spiritual activity. 

On this point, the corroboration afforded by nature, so 
far as it extends, is remarkable. Nature, by all its teach- 
ings, prepares us to recognize and admit the fact, that 
spiritual being is entirely removed from the sphere of our 
sense perceptions, without having our belief in the reality 
of spiritual being impaired thereby in the least degree. 
It does this by showing the exceedingly limited range of 
our perceptions even of physical forms of being. When 
we know that all matter passes into forms and states in 
which it disappears before our eyes, and that the sensibil- 
ity of our organs of sight and of hearing exists only within 
narrow limits, then we realize that, while we possess the 
full extent and degree of perceptive power that are re- 
quired for all our uses, still, considered absolutely, this ex- 
tent and degree are very limited indeed, even with respect 
to what appears to us as material things. A fortiori^ then, 
spiritual being must be deeply hidden from our sight. The 
direct tendency and effect of physical research is, to check 
human presumption, and to induce an humble and reverent 
spirit, in view of the exceedingly narrow limits of our 
powers and our knowledge, and the infinity of even physical 
truth, and, above all, in view of our helpless dependence 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 1 73 

Upon the unseen environment of our being, whatever, in 
that unity to which all its manifestations point, this envi- 
ronment may be. We are thus prepared to accept, as in 
strict consonance with the nature of things, the declaration 
that God is and must be very far removed even from our 
conception, while we retain the absolute certainty of his 
omnipresent being, and recognize the sublime truth of 
that descriptive exclamation in the Psalms: '' Who cov- 
erest thyself with light, as with a garment," light being 
the only thing that we know to fill the universe. 

With respect to the eternal self-existence and omni- 
presence of God, nature and the Bible are in full accord. 
Both alike also represent God as a Being of infinite and 
unchangeable truth. The harmony between the Bible and 
nature in this respect of truth has been set forth in an 
earlier paper. 

Although many expressions in the Bible can be wrested, 
and have been wrested, by men to an opposite sense, still 
the totality of its teaching unquestionably represents God 
to be a Being of universal and unchangeable love. In- 
deed, the love of God toward the whole race of man 
is taught and exhibited in the Bible in such a remarkable 
manner, that the mass of Christians, in contemplating these 
teachings and these exhibitions, even when they strive to 
confine infinite love within the limits of their comprehen- 
sion, and while they cloud it by imputing to God the vin- 
dictiveness of their own dispositions, are still habituated to 
overlook, for the most part, the harmonious exhibition of 
that love, by which they are surrounded. The beauty and 
the glory of the divine love, as revealed in the Bible, render 
Christians in a large degree blind to the necessarily equal 
beauty and glory of the same love, as revealed in nature.^ 

^ One who cannot see — what physical science as hitherto limited does not 
teach — the love of God, as this love is manifested in nature, misses the grand 



174 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

The foregoing points of agreement may be summed up 
in the pregnant statement, that the revelation of God 
made in the Bible is in ever\' respect fully adequate to the 
revelation of Him that is made in His works. In these 
respects the Bible stands alone, in striking contrast with 
all other recorded thought. No other composition meets 
any of these demands, except so far as such compositions 
have obviously been derived from the Bible itself. 

It is next to be noted that, although the Bible was com- 
pleted long before the beginning of scientific inquiry, still 
the discoveries of science have not rendered it obsolete. 
On the contrarv, these discoveries have enabled the mean- 
ing and force of much of its language to be better under- 
stood. It is hardly possible at the present day to conceive 
the ignorance of physical truth, or the false conceptions 
respecting physical phenomena, or the limited range of 
thought concerning all this class of subjects, that existed 
universally during all the period within which the several 
books of the Bible were written. The form of the earth 
had not even become a subject of inquiry. Respecting its 
size, curiosity did not anywhere extend beyond the small 
portion of it that was known. Its age was supposed, by 
the few who had any thought about it, to be measured by 
a few generations of men. The speculations of Pythag- 
oras were, apparently, without appreciable influence, and 
aside from these, the only conception respecting the earth 
that was held with any degree of distinctness was, that it 

fundamental feature of the harmony between the two modes of revelation. 
Science is progressive. Its tendency is in the direction of comprehensive- 
ness and spirituality, towards the recognition of the fact that spiritual truth 
is fundamental also in nature. But it would obviously be irrational to look 
for entire harmony between religion and science in its present stage, in 
which this recognition has not been reached ; and it would be still more 
irrational to assume as standards of comparison between religion and science 
scientific hvpotheses, which are considered by the highest scientific authorities 
to be only guesses at truth. When science in its completeness, not of attain- 
ment but of purpose, shall appear by the side of religion ia its purity, lo ! 
so far as science extends, the.se will be seen to be one. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 1 75 

formed the centre of all things, and that a solid firmament, 
in which the sun and moon and stars were set, revolved 
around it every day. The whole Bible was written under 
these infantile conditions, of mistaken conceptions and 
extreme limitation of thought. 

Since that time, on the one hand we have learned the 
obscure rank of the earth among the hosts of heaven, and 
on the other hand the thoughts of men have become en- 
larged, until human conceptions are lost in the infinities 
of space and time. But we have not outgrown the Bible. 
There appears to be a remarkable likeness between this 
Book and the nature of things in this respect : The mean- 
ing that is conveyed to our minds by the Bible, in all 
its allusions to physical phenomena, expands just in the 
degree in which our conceptions of the phenomena 
expand. It seems as if both the description and 
the phenomena were limited to us in the same way, 
namely, by our capacity to comprehend them. The 
unique character of the language of the Bible in this 
respect also becomes strikingly evident, when this Book 
is contrasted with any other writing. 

The Bible contains one apparently distinct expression 
of the ignorance of physical truth, and disposition to 
fable, of the age in which it was written. This is the 
account of the sun and moon standing still at the com- 
mand of Joshua. Our argument unquestionably requires 
that the difficulty in the way of accepting the Bible as the 
inspired Word of God, which is presented to many sincere 
minds by this account, should be removed. The correct 
interpretation of the passage seems to be sufficient for 
this purpose. 

Until quite recently, the Christian world and the scep- 
tical world have agreed in holding to the literal reading of 
this account. The Roman Church denounced the Coper- 



176 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

nican theory of the solar system, and compelled its first 
great advocate, Galileo, whether by torture or by threat 
of torture is unknown and is immaterial, to abjure it as a 
heresy ; because this theory would render necessary the 
cessation of the rotation of the earth on its axis, in order 
that the sun should have stood still upon Gibeon, and the 
moon in the valley of Ajalon. 

The position respecting this passage, which, almost to 
the present time, has been held by all Christian teachers, 
has been well expressed by one who still holds fast to the 
lessons of his infancy, as follows : '' Believing that the 
Creator of a system can arrest the operation of laws im- 
posed upon it by Himself, I see no necessity to doubt the 
truth of the Scripture record." 

On the other hand, Professor Tyndall has called atten- 
tion to the obvious and striking irreconcilability of such 
an inconceivable waste of energy, as is involved in the 
literal interpretation of this passage, with the uniform 
economy of nature. On this well-founded criticism of 
this single account, taken literally, he has rested his ob- 
jection to the general credibility of miracles. He has not 
told us why he selected this account. The reason is, 
however, evident. No other one would answer the pur- 
pose. No account of a miracle in the Bible, this being 
left out of view, is open to this criticism. On the contrary, 
this account presents in this respect a remarkable contrast 
to every record of a miracle. In these the general feature 
is the production of effects by the employment of appar- 
ently insufficient means. The case was a singularly unfavor- 
able one for deducing a general conclusion from a single 
observation. The account selected for observation is ob- 
viously exceptional. 

Modern criticism has shed a new light upon this passage 
which has given to our literal and prosaic minds such a 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 1 77 

world of trouble. That the view to be presented may be 
clearly seen, it is only necessary to bear in mind that the 
account contains these words: '' Is not this written in the 
book of Jasher? " These words declare the origin of the 
account, and they also declare, what is of conclusive value, 
that it did not form a part of the contemporaneous record 
of the event. 

I learn from an eminent Oriental scholar,- Rev. James 
Douglas, that this description, of the sun and moon 
standing still at the command of Joshua, is considered by 
scholars, who are familar with the new department of Bib- 
lical interpretation known as Orientalism, to be nothing 
more than a hyperbole of Oriental imagery, a highly poeti- 
cal way of saying that they had a long day of slaughter; 
that, as such poetical description, it was at a later day in- 
troduced into the narrative; and that the Oriental mind 
never attached to it a literal meaning, any more than it 
did to the declaration that the stars in their courses 
fought against Sisera. 

A view substantially similar has been expressed by the 
Rev. W. P. Breed, D.D. Dr. Breed says : *' I am inclined 
to think that the book of Jasher was a book of national 
songs, and this is simply a quotation from it, expressing, 
in a highly wrought imaginative lyric, the fact that by the 
aid of Heaven as much was done by Israel in one day as 
otherwise would have required at least two days." A simi- 
lar view is adopted by the best modern German commenta- 
tors. Lange says: " We have to consider here an inserted 
passage." " The standing still of the sun and moon is no 
more to be understood literally than is the fighting of the 
stars, the melting of mountains, rending the heavens, 
skipping of mountains, or bowing the heavens. It is the 
language of poetry that we have to interpret, and poetry, 
too, of the most figurative and vehement kind, which 



178 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

honors and celebrates Joshua's confidence in God in the 
midst of the strife, and his assurance of victory." 

This natural interpretation of this language, as merely 
a bold poetic figure of speech, seems certain in the end to 
be accepted as the correct one. All lovers of truth must 
come ultimately to rejoice that the truth has been deter- 
mined in this instance. Meantime it is natural to expect 
that the extinguishment of this passage as a literal de- 
scription will be lamented and contested by two extremely 
different classes — by those Christians who have loved to 
dwell upon such a supposed stupendous instance of Al- 
mighty interposition, and by the whole race of- sceptics, 
who see their great gun silenced. 

It is to be observed, that in the Bible the subject of 
physical phenomena is not avoided, but on the contrary, 
and especially in the poetical portions, these phenomena 
are frequently dwelt upon, and that in language that is 
correct, and is of a character always so elevated, and often 
so sublime, as to stand in marked contrast with all other 
compositions, even to the present day. I wish here to re- 
vert to the fact, and to dwell more particularly upon it, 
that the discoveries of science, and the consequent en- 
largement of the conceptions and comprehension of men, 
have been required, before the real meaning and force of 
much of this language in the Bible could, in any proper 
degree, be apprehended. Science thus compels us to de- 
clare respecting this language, that it could not have had 
its real origin in the minds of men. 

The fact is one that commands our attention, that the 
most exalted intellect can find no language so fit as that 
of the Bible, in which to express the emotions that are 
kindled by the contemplation of these overwhelming 
physical truths. This language has been found uniformly 
consistent with, and expressive of, the highest conceptions 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 1 79 

that men can form, respecting the physical creation, as 
well as respecting God as its Creator. In each of these 
respects the language of the Bible is beyond all measure 
above that of any other composition. 

There is yet a deeper reason for the satisfaction that is 
derived from the language of the Bible, in its references 
to physical phenomena. The Bible is the only book in 
which these phenomena are referred directly to God, and 
are described as being His personal acts. All other books 
are written in phenomenal language. Apparently they 
must be so. We seem to be shut up to the philosophy of 
appearances, and to be under the necessity of describing 
all operations and events in nature, as if they were self- 
directed. We have, however, intuitive feelings that rebel 
against this necessity. These feelings have doubtless led 
to the fiction of nature and her works. The real satisfac- 
tion that is felt in reading the language of the Bible, in 
which God is himself presented to us as the everywhere- 
present actor in physical phenomena, arises, undoubtedly, 
in a great degree, from our recognition of its truth in this 
respect. 

An obvious, and at the same time an impressive, in- 
stance of identical truth in its spiritual and its physical 
applications, and one also that affords a notable illustra- 
tion of the general fact, that the commands of the Bible 
are verbal expressions of natural commands, is afforded in 
the command to obedience. 

In the Bible, implicit obedience to the commands of 
God, absolute submission to his will, is everywhere en- 
joined, as the primary duty of man. Under the relations 
which exist between man and God, obedience is obviously 
the necessary mode of expression, in conduct, of love on 
the part of man. Thus the Christ said : " If ye love me, 
keep my commandments." Man is declared in the Bible 



l8o THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

to have fallen by disobedience, and to have been redeemed 
by him who '' became obedient unto death." 

So, too, obedience is the law of the physical world. It 
would seem as if, from his education and habits of thought, 
the engineer ought to have an especially clear apprehen- 
sion of what obedience to the commands of God and sub- 
mission to his will really mean, and a vivid perception of 
the absolute and necessary sense in which these expres- 
sions are to be understood. This subject was touched 
upon at the commencement of these papers. We then 
observed the complete accordance that is demanded be- 
tween the will and purpose of one who attempts any 
physical work whatever, and the fixed and eternal pur- 
pose of God. To the extent called for by the work 
proposed, absolute harmony with the nature of God must 
exist in the spirit of man. Attention is now recalled to 
this fact, as affording a prominent illustration of the iden- 
tity between the commands of the Bible and the com- 
mands which exist in the nature of things. 

Again, the same harmony is to be observed between 
the spiritual and the physical dependence of man upon 
God, as the former is taught in the Bible, and the latter 
is observed in nature. In both these respects this depend- 
ence is absolute or infinite. The Bible teaches that 
eternal life, which it defines to consist in a unity of the 
nature of man with God, is the free gift of God, which 
every human being may receive as fully as he will. 

So in nature we observe that every thing is the free 
gift of God. Our being, and every thing by which that 
being is supported, all knowledge and the capacity for 
knowing, our affections and all objects for their exercise, 
every thing, is a free gift to us from some source. We 
cannot conceive of ourselves as possessed of any thing, 
save only our depraved nature, that we have not received 
from an infinitely beneficent source. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION, l8l 

The foregoing observations would appear sufficiently to 
exhibit the singular agreement between the Bible and 
truth as observed in nature. We trace between them 
this harmony. The Bible teaches truth in its spiritual 
relations. Nature exhibits truth in its physical expression. 
It will be the office of science, in its full development, to 
unfold truth universal in the harmonies of its physical 
manifestations. 

We now pass to the consideration of another phase of 
the general harmony between the Bible and those expres- 
sions of truth which are presented to us in nature and in 
the human conscience. 

Mankind have not only advanced in knowledge since 
the Bible was written, they have also made progress ia 
humanity. The Israelites represented fully the best de- 
velopment of the race in this respect in their day. But 
they were originally a semi-barbarous and cruel people. 
The lex talioiiis was their unwritten law, precisely as it 
was among the North American Indians. Revenge was 
their cardinal virtue. The amelioration of this law of 
vengeance was one object of their great lawgiver. 

It is startling to read, in the earliest writings of this 
people, the question recorded as asked by God himself, of 
the first man related to have been born into the world ; a 
question that searches out the fundamental principles of 
human relations, and the meaning of which we are only 
now beginning to realize. Our wonder is increased when 
we read the command, that at the very first was given to 
the selfish and contentious Israelites, evidently not for 
themselves alone, but through them to the human race 
forever, *' Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." And 
in order that no place should be left for doubt as to the 
meaning of these words '' thy neighbor," that no excuse 
should be found for treating them as words of limitation. 



1 82 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

the commands were added : " Love ye therefore the 
stranger." '^The stranger that dwelleth with you shall be 
as one born among you, and thou shalt love him as thy- 
self ; for ye were strangers in the land of Egypt." 

This command, addressed directly to the motive to all 
right action, the general and comprehensive command, 
out of which all particular commands, to govern the con- 
duct of men in all their relations and intercourse, proceed, 
as necessary corollaries, was thus given to men long be- 
fore they could feel or sympathize with its spirit. Many 
centuries were to pass before the great expounder and 
exemplar of this command should arise, to enforce and 
to illustrate it. And even then, after so long a time, how 
little advance in humanity had been made by men, com- 
pared with that which yet remained to be accomplished. 
Even since the advent of the Christ, the leaven has worked 
very slowly, so that it would be absurd to say that, at this 
present day, the most Christian nations, as a whole, have 
made much progress towards the full obedience to the 
command, " love ye the stranger as thyself." 

There remained, however, a height of spiritual benefi- 
cent activity above this, that was to be revealed by the 
Christ, in the further command, " Love your enemies." 
This is a natural command. By a natural command is 
meant one that is inherent in the nature of things, and 
which spiritual beings, in their normal state, spontaneously 
and necessarily obey. With natural commands of a physi- 
cal nature we are familiar. These are commands to use 
our various senses and organs for the purposes for which 
each one was given us. We obey these commands in see- 
ing, hearing, walking, and so on through the whole circle 
of our activities. In like manner the command to universal 
love is a command that the spirit in its normal condition was 
formed to obey, precisely as it was formed to see. Love 



THE VERBAL REVELATION. 1 83 

is the response that such a spirit makes to any antagonism, 
whatever may be the form of its expression ; or rather, it 
is the uniform mode of normal spiritual activity, that can- 
not be affected by external conditions. Obedience to this 
command to universal love, the expression of normal 
spiritual activity, was to be shown in the life and death of 
Him by whom the command was given. The manifesta- 
tion in the Christ of that nature to which this is a natural 
command remains an example to the human race forever. 

Now every one, in the depths of his consciousness, 
recognizes the fact that the command to universal love, 
given in the Bible, is the verbal expression of natural law. 
It agrees with physical law, or with the uniform conduct 
of God, which is the manifestation of his love to all crea- 
tures alike, to the just and the unjust, to the evil and the 
good. The Bible alone presents this harmony. We per- 
ceive that it must have been given to men by the same 
Being, from whom the natural command to universal love 
proceeded, and in whose conduct it is illustrated. This 
law needed to be declared to men. God only could de- 
clare it. Therefore the Book in which it is declared is the 
Word of God. 

We come now to a still higher test respecting the divine 
origin of the Bible. This book has been seen to declare 
the true relation existing between man and man, and to 
reveal the motive that in their normal spiritual state would 
govern the conduct of men toward their fellow-men. But 
if the Bible be from God, it must also declare the relation 
between man and God. Here we encounter evidence of 
the divine origin of the Bible that is of a singularly im- 
pressive character. We have seen that the Bible is in 
harmony with nature in declaring the existence of one 
unseen God. But it does far more than this. It declares 
the attributes of God, which are found, first, to be in har- 



1 84 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

mony with his attributes as exhibited in nature, although 
men had been blind to this exhibition of them ; and, 
secondly, to be directly opposed to the universal and 
fanatical belief of the Jews themselves. God is declared 
to be the universal Father, infinite in love, and, therefore, 
in the same degree which is beyond degree, in mercy and 
forgiveness ; and with whom every soul, throughout all 
the nations of the earth, has the same intimate relations. 
Out of these relations there springs one single natural com- 
mand. To this command the Bible, if it be the Word of 
God, must give expression. That command which man, in 
his normal state, would naturally obey, as the free and spon- 
taneous act of his rejoicing being, just as he obeys every 
command that grows out of his relation to the physical 
creation, by putting forth his activity in every form for 
which his organs were given to him, that supreme com- 
mand must also have its expression here. 

We ask for it, and the answer comes : " Thou shalt 
love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all 
thy soul, and with all thy might." ^ We bow our heads, 
for we know that we are listening to the voice of the God 
of nature. Expressing the relation that really exists be- 
tween man and his Maker, but which was never conceived 
of by him, as existing between himself and any deity of 
his own creation ; and given with a comprehensiveness 
and an energy of repetition that befit its transcendent 
consequence, and exceed that of any other form of words 
that ever w^as uttered in the ear of man, this command, 
that seems to ring through the earth and the heavens, 
could have come only from Him who created man in His 
own image. 

But even another test remains. What would the God 
of nature, the Being of infinite and universal and change- 

^ Deut. vi., 5. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION, 1 85 

less love, do with respect to man in his abnormal condi- 
tion ? Would the God that gives the sunshine and the 
rain leave man in the condition in which, however he 
reached it, he is incapable of recognizing the existence of 
the Being whose perfection he does not share, and so can- 
not conceive, — that condition in which he feels no impulse 
to obey, but on the contrary feels every impulse to 
disobey, the command to universal love, — that condition 
in which, to consider it merely in its negative aspect, which 
cannot be disputed, he is dead to all the happiness that 
flows from communion with infinite love ? Is there any 
way of rescuing man from the fearful plight of a perverted 
nature, and of making his hateful spirit lovely, which the 
God who cares for his physical being with such incon- 
ceivable provision could hesitate to adopt ? 

The crowning evidence that the Bible is the Word of 
the God of nature is found in the answer which it makes 
to this question. In the supreme revelation there given 
of the love of God to man, in the purpose that is declared 
in the sacrifice on the cross, and in the change in the 
nature of our race, proceeding in the gradual manner that 
marks all the operations of God, which change we witness 
in its progress, obviously as the consequence of that 
sacrifice, and in the accomplishment of that purpose, we 
recognize again, and in its highest manifestation, the 
harmony between the verbal and the physical revelations 
of God. 

It is sometimes made a ground of objection to the 
Bible, that it contains many mysteries. If it were a merely 
human production this would not be the case. In this 
feature we find another respect in w^hich a close likeness 
appears between the Bible and the physical creation. 
Both have depths that we cannot explore. Just here we 
would naturally look in the Bible, if we assume it to be 



l86 THE VERBAL REVELATION. 

true, to find a special likeness to nature. We observe that 
in nature, however little may be revealed to us, still that 
little is just what we need to know, and is all that 
we need to know. However much is hidden from us, 
still nothing is hidden, the knowledge of which is essen- 
tial, or could contribute, to our present uses and hap- 
piness. We would expect to find the same to be the 
case with the Bible. This expectation will not be dis- 
appointed. All the mysteries, and these are many and 
deep, which are presented to us in the Bible, are for us 
only matters of curious speculation. All truth that is 
necessary to be known and received by us, that can in any- 
way affect our present and future welfare and happiness, 
is set before us in clear and strong light. This fact is not 
affected by the disposition of men to contend about the 
former, and to neglect the latter because these afford no 
opportunity for contention. 

A part of the universal analog}^ between the mysteries 
of the Bible and those of nature has been well stated by 
a recent writer, as follows : "' ^lodem experience and more 
thorough thought have shown how speedily we strike on 
the transcendent, which we can neither elude nor solve, as 
soon as we handle the simplest problem in exact science. 
It seems to suggest, as no previous age had suggested, 
that in the spiritual and ethical spheres, which are no less 
* exact ' than the physical one, there is the transcendent in 
the Trinity, the Incarnation, the Atonement, which calls 
us to bow to revelation about them with a humility never 
before seen to be so natural, so reasonable, so right." ^ 

Referring again to the remarkable character of the 
language of the Bible, it is to be observed, that the lan- 
guage which is most surely recognized by the Christian as 

^Frota an address delivered before the Alumni Association of Union 
Theological Seminary, on " Modem Safeguards of Orthodoxy," by Mancios 
H. Hutton, D.D. Pulpit Treasury, July, 1885. 



THE VERBAL REVELATION, 1 87 

being the very words of God, is that which expresses, 
under so many forms, the supreme truths, of the infinite 
tenderness of the lov^e of God to all men, of the personal 
relation that exists between the soul of man and God, and 
of the possible and ultimate complete unity of the human 
with the divine nature. As it was observed with respect 
to the physical descriptions and allusions in the Bible, that 
their meaning grows with each increase of our knowledge, 
and each enlargement of our conceptions, so, in an emi- 
nent degree, is it the case with the language that we are 
now considering. The comprehension and enjoyment of 
this language by us depends entirely for its degree upon 
the development of universal love in our own souls. This 
language has no interest or meaning for the human spirit 
in its abnormal state. It grows more expressive just as 
the spirit becomes more responsive to infinite love. It 
is equal to every demand. In it every longing finds its 
satisfaction, and trust its complete expression. 

I cannot avoid repeating, as especially applicable to 
this subject, the thought with which the last paper was 
concluded. The absurdity of any expression of opinion 
respecting the language of the Bible by those who can 
see nothing in it, and of opposing any argument whatever 
against the experiential knowledge of its preciousness, 
ought to be sufificiently obvious. 

Other features of the harmony between the Bible and 
nature will present themselves, when we come to consider 
the subjects of faith and suffering and prayer. The facts 
already observed, however, sufificiently warrant the con- 
clusion, that the Bible is in harmony with the revelations 
made in the physical creation, and that it supplements 
these revelations ; that to the soul that is able to receive 
it, and just in the degree in which the soul is able to 
receive it, the Bible completes and consummates the 
revelation of the infinite love of God. 



PERFECTION. 



The purpose of the last paper was to point out some 
features of the harmony that exists between the Bible 
and the physical revelation, or what may be embraced in 
the general expression, " the nature of things." An ad- 
ditional illustration of this harmony is afforded in the 
standard of conduct that is common to both. The fitness 
of mechanical science for exhibiting this harmony is also 
illustrated here. A common standard of conduct which 
transcends human experience, affords another and a very 
impressive proof, that the Bible has proceeded from the 
same Infinite Being who is manifested in the nature of 
things. 

In mechanical science there has been revealed to man 
the actual standard of excellence, which is perfection. 
From the very nature of the case, this is the only standard 
that can be recognized in mechanics ; for if it be not, 
then where, on the sliding scale of imperfection, shall the 
standard be set ? This standard is, to be sure, a purely 
theoretical one, unattainable by man in practice. None 
are so deeply conscious of this as they whose efforts 
have enabled them to approach most nearly to it. The 
more highly educated the mechanical sense becomes, the 
more obvious the fact appears, that perfection is the only 
standard that can in reality exist. This standard admits 
of no compromise with imperfection. Its claims admit of 



PERFECTION. 1 89 

no argument in their support. To the mind that is capa- 
ble of perceiving them they are self-evident. 

It is to be observed, also, that this standard in mechanics 
could not have been originated by man. Man has needed 
to be educated up to it, by the slow process of mechanical 
revelation. This bare statement would doubtless be dis- 
puted by some. It forms an important link in my argu- 
ment. It is therefore necessary that its correctness shall 
be established. The fact is, those who would question 
this statement would do so only because they do not know 
what it means. In advance of any mechanical education, 
men generally will say, honestly enough, that every one 
ought to aim at perfection in mechanical work. But they 
mean by this word something that is attainable, and often 
easily attainable, and with which they would be completely 
satisfied. They do not mean the real standard of excel- 
lence, but only their own imaginary standard, the best 
they can themselves form an idea of. It would be idle to 
talk to them about any thing more exacting. They would 
only reply : *' What do you want of any thing any better 
than that ? " 

It is difficult to realize how gradually the idea of me- 
chanical truth has grown in the minds of men, as the result 
of education. I saw in practical use in the city of Oporto, 
a few years ago, the following method then employed in 
that city for signalling each day the hour of noon. A 
cannon was planted in an opening in the tower of a 
church. The hammer was held up by a string. As 
the rays of the sun appeared past an angle of the wall, 
they were focalized on the string by a lens and burned it 
in two, when the hammer fell and the gun was fired. 
Should this apparatus operate perfectly, it would give solar 
time, as given by the sundial. If it were a cloudy day, 
or if for any reason the cannon failed to be fired within a 



190 PERFECTION. 

reasonable time, it was the duty of a priest to go up the 
church-tower and cut the string, or make the hammer to 
strike by hand. I saw nothing produced in the same city 
that appeared to be more nearly round than the wheels 
of the carts, which were hewn out of planks with the axe. 

Thus a consideration of what the mechanically unedu- 
cated or partially educated mind intends, when it employs 
the term '' perfection" in a mechanical sense establishes 
the truth of our proposition. It is now obvious enough, 
that in its real sense of absolute truth unattainable by 
finite endeavor, perfection is a standard that has needed 
to be revealed to man, and that by slow degrees. 

The educated mechanic stands amazed when he beholds 
everywhere in nature the actual realization of this ideal 
perfection. This great subject can only be alluded to 
here. In the following paper it will be briefly considered, 
and a few of its innumerable lessons presented. 

One who has become familiar with the existence of this 
necessary standard of mechanical excellence reads with a 
peculiar sensation the blazing command of the Christ : 
'' Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
heaven is perfect." Here the same unattainable standard 
is set. The mere command : "" Be ye therefore perfect," 
if it stopped there, would have left every one to set his 
own imaginary standard, and to be satisfied with his own 
attainment. But it would not have declared the true 
standard, the only real standard of conduct. This is set 
beyond all doubt or cavil in the added words, *' even as 
your Father which is in heaven is perfect." We observe 
with gladness that this was not a new command, first 
uttered by the Christ, although it was given by him with 
more unmistakable distinctness and emphasis than it had 
received before ; but, as in the case of the command to 
love our neighbor, this also had been declared of old. 



PERFECTION. IQI 

Now the mind to whom the real standard of mechanical 
excellence has been revealed cannot fail to see, and to 
realize vividly, the fact, that this command to spiritual 
excellence is not, and could not be from man. To such a 
mind this command appears to be the expression of the 
universal standard of absolute truth, in its application 
to spiritual beings ; the very same command that the 
mechanic hears in its physical applications. 

An essential unity pervades all physical and spiritual 
existence. There is one law for both. Truth is a univer- 
sal quality, that in the nature of things is demanded in 
both these forms of being alike. Indeed, truth in physi- 
cal expression is only the manifestation of truth previ- 
ously existing in spiritual being. The degree of approach 
to the former is determined entirely by the degree of con- 
formity to absolute truth that has been reached by the 
latter. This every engineer understands full well. In the 
declaration of this standard of spiritual excellence, he 
recognizes, therefore, the voice of the giver of all being. 
In the command itself he recognizes a universal expres- 
sion. "As your Father in heaven is perfect" is the only 
real standard of all excellence. This is illustrated in all 
the works of creation. It is revealed to man as the 
standard by which all his physical work is to be measured. 
And now in the only possible way, through human 
language in the Word of God, it is declared in its applica- 
tion to the conduct of moral beings. 

Thus perfection is presented to us everywhere, and in 
all ways, as the essence of the divine nature, and as the 
law of all worthy activity, the goal of all human endeavor, 
both in our relations to physical and to spiritual being. 
As there could be no other physical standard, so there 
could be no other spiritual standard. But neither the 
one nor the other could have been originated by man. 



192 perfection: 

Man could not give expression to a standard of spiritual 
excellence, any more than he could express a standard of 
physical excellence, which is beyond his power to con- 
ceive. Both these must have proceeded from the same 

infinite source. 



NATURAL RELIGION. 



I HAVE endeavored to show that the being of God is a 
fact that can be revealed only as love, and can be recog- 
nized only by love ; that this highest of all truths cannot 
be reached by inferior modes of our spiritual activity, 
but demands for its apprehension the exercise of the high- 
est of all the forms of this activity. If I have been suc- 
cessful in this endeavor, then it will be obvious that it is a 
misnomer to call Natural Theology a science. This so- 
called science claims to be a method of demonstrating to 
the understanding the existence of God, by evidence drawn 
from His works. In other words, it is an attempt to do 
that which in the nature of things cannot be done. This 
" science " is in fact only a human contrivance, designed 
on wrong or imaginary principles, and therefore one which 
must be mischievous in its operation. 

If we will imagine the children of a watch-maker study- 
ing a watch, in order to find evidence of the existence of 
their father, who has been before their eyes and treating 
them with unspeakable tenderness all their lives, we will 
have the case exactly. If we will conceive that, while all 
this has been true respecting the father, still the children, 
under the influence of some strange spell, remain in igno- 
rance of his being ; that while, in helpless dependence upon 
him, they are carried in his bosom, and are the objects of 
his love and care in an inconceivable degree, still all the 



194 NATURAL RELIGION. 

knowledge they can get respecting him is that he made 
that watch, and a great many other mechanical contriv- 
ances, we will have the sum of what can be found out 
about God by the intellectual method of natural theology, 
or by following the poet's advice, and endeavoring to 
''look through nature up to nature's God." 

This so-called science was a natural product of the mind 
at a certain stage of its growth. There has been a long 
period, now happily past, during which all the relations 
of the soul of man to God have been regarded as being 
primarily the subjects of the human understanding. Our 
emotional nature, our real spiritual being, has in former 
days been treated by theologians with but little more re- 
gard than it has been by men of science. The highest 
form of our mental or spiritual activity has been neglected, 
and its great office, as the direct and exclusive medium 
for the revelation to us of the highest truth, has been 
ignored. The clear light of infinite truth has moreover 
been obscured and distorted by transmission through 
human media. The words of men have been substituted 
in place of the revelation of God to an almost incredible 
extent. Prominence, in some cases almost exclusive, has 
been given to every form of doctrine that could be made 
to harmonize most nearly with the narrow and selfish and 
vindictive natures of men, and that could hide most effect- 
ually the infinite and universal and changeless love of 
God, as this love is revealed in the Bible and in nature. 

The imagined omnipotent faculty of the reason has 
been exalted as the infallible guide to truth. Theologians 
have been trained to rely on severe processes of thought, 
and the fact that these processes led different minds to 
contradictory conclusions was powerless to show them the 
absurdity of this reliance. The religious mind was fitted 
into various systems of human contriving, and was fed on 



NATURAL RELIGION. 1 95 

formulas and propositions and demonstrations and de- 
ductions, the confidence of men in which only showed the 
narrowness of their conceptions. Every thing else was 
made subordinate to those questions on which men dif- 
fered, and about which, therefore, they could contend. 

All this naturally culminated in the supposition that the 
being and nature of God Himself come so far within the 
grasp of our comprehension, as properly to be made the 
subjects of human reasoning. On these points of doctrine 
warring views were held, and men gratified their ferocious 
propensities by killing each other for holding them. What 
rivers of blood have been caused to flow, because men, 
while agreeing in the fundamental error of holding God 
to be the subject of human comprehension, have differed 
in their conclusions respecting Him ! 

Minds that were educated in such schools of thought 
could of course have no perception of the absurdity of 
the system of natural theology. Its deductions were of a 
nature essentially similar to those to which they were 
accustomed. These deductions were reached by meth- 
ods of the same exclusively intellectual character, as the 
processes of thought in the use of which they had been 
educated. Both arrived at the conception of a purely 
imaginary divinity. The living God, the God of the Bible 
and of nature, who can be fully revealed only to the spirit 
that loves its neighbor as itself, was equally hidden from 
those who sought him through either of these intellectual 
methods. 

By a process quite insensible, and aided by influences 
which, like force, are discernible only in their effects, the 
mind of the more advanced portions of our race has for a 
long time been outgrowing this infantile stage. The true 
nature of religion is coming to be better perceived. Har- 
mony of the natures of individual men with the nature of 



196 NATURAL RELIGION. 

God, in love, is seen, more and more distinctly, to consti- 
tute its sole essence. 

The merely intellectual nature, with its beliefs about 
what is utterly beyond its comprehension, is being 
dethroned from its usurped supremacy ; and the emo- 
tional nature, and the conduct as determined by the 
affections, are coming to be accorded their rightful place. 

The real progress of civilization and Christianization^ 
which in their essence are one and the same thing, is seen 
in the greater relative importance that men attach to 
those deeper verities about which it is not possible for 
them to contend. 

Under these changing conditions of religious life, it is 
not at all a matter of surprise that the methods and the 
deductions of natural theology should, at the present day, 
receive far less attention than they once commanded. 
Their unsatisfactory nature is, in fact, very generally felt,, 
even by those to whom this science has been carefully 
taught. This is a cheering indication. It is, indeed, quite 
time that natural theology, which seeks in nature for evi- 
dences of the being of God whom the soul has not 
" spiritually discerned," should give place to natural re~ 
ligion, which in every thing in nature recognizes with 
adoration the active manifestation of that love which has 
been revealed through its likeness to the image formed in 
the spirit ; which sees exhibited all about it, in an infinite 
degree, the universal love that it feels. It is time that the 
works of God should be studied again in the spirit of the 
Psalms. The disposition of religious thought, that even 
yet prevails under the benumbing influence of our scienti- 
fic education, to regard with little concern the mighty 
religious influences by which we are in fact enveloped, is 
matter for profound astonishment. 

When God has been revealed within the spirit, in the 



NATURAL RELIGION. 1 97 

only possible way, by the recognition of love, and is then 
seen to fill the universe with his presence ; when the glad- 
soul, in its freedom, finds itself a participant in the har- 
mony of the creation, in which nothing exists for itself, 
but all things are in ceaseless activity for beneficent pur- 
poses ; then, indeed, the study of the love of God in its 
physical manifestations, so far as our limited powers en- 
able us to pursue it, becomes, next after the contempla- 
tion of the same love as shown in the work of human 
redemption, the most satisfactory of mental occupations. 

In this study we are not seeking after evidences of the 
being of God. Far from it. The spirit has already found 
rest and peace in the certain recognition of this supreme 
truth. No question respecting the being of God can 
disturb it, or can even enter its consciousness. But the 
spirit delights to come more consciously into the presence 
of God, to see his glory revealed to it, so far as it can 
endure the sight, and, while lost in wonder at the 
wisdom and the skill that his works display, to adore the 
love which it beholds animating and directing the whole. 
In this study we admire, also, the evidence that God has 
created us in His own image. He has given to us the in- 
telligence by which we are, in some degree, however small, 
able to understand the divine methods of operation, and 
ourselves, though at so great a distance, to employ similar 
methods, and to exercise similar skill. This is a fact 
which affords corroborative evidence of the strongest 
character in support of the truth, of the perception of all 
spiritual realities by recognition. To this evidence atten- 
tion will shortly be invited. 

Although, in any proper view of the works of God, the 
wisdom and skill which these works display are obscured 
by the brighter light of the Divine love, or, to drop the 
figure, although the former can have little of real interest 



198 NATURAL RELIGION. 

for US, except in the degree in which the latter is revealed, 
and then the beneficent purpose manifest in every thing 
must occupy the supreme place in the thought, still it will 
conduce to clearness of apprehension, if we separate these 
in our mind for a little time, and observe the former alone, 
so far as possible without regard to the omnipresent 
motive. 

We have been so constituted that, when once the Infi- 
nite ^lind has been recognized, we perceive intuitively 
that the creation must have emanated from that mind, 
and must be the manifestation or expression of it. The 
philosophy of this perception is x^ry simple. We reason 
from ourselves. W^e observe our own process of mechani- 
cal construction. In a subordinate sense, man is himself 
a creator. His creation has a uniform order, from which 
no variation is conceivable. That order is this : First, he 
forms in his mind the idea. This mental conception is for 
him a real spiritual entity, which he beholds in his '' mind's 
eye" as distinctly as though it were sensible to his touch. 
Afterwards he produces its material counterpart, which 
cannot vary from the original in his thought, " even by 
the estimation of a hair." The thought grows or changes 
in his mind. Corresponding development or change is 
demanded in the visible duplicate or representation of it. 
When completed, his work stands before him merely as 
his embodied thought. Whatever the nature of his crea- 
tion may be, and whether it be simple or complicated in 
any degree, in all cases alike the form, the adaptation to 
its use, the function of every part, the relations of the 
several parts to each other, — all these together, constitute 
the material realization of his idea, the expression of his 
purpose, the visible representation of his thoughts, of his 
whole spiritual nature, so far as the work affords oppor- 
tunity for such representation to be made. Thus in our 



NATURAL RELIGION. 1 99 

own creative work we find that all possibility of material 
existence is determined and limited by the pre-existent 
thought and purpose in our minds. This uniform order 
of creation is familiar in all our experience. We cannot 
conceive of any other. Analogy compels us, from this 
uniform experience, to draw the universal conclusion : 
First in the order of being must be a mind. In this mind 
the thought must be perfected. Afterwards only can ma- 
terial existence come to be, as the embodiment of such 
thought. 

This uniform order of creation is to be observed in 
every thing. The voice cannot even produce a tone, until 
this tone has been formed in the mind, and has been heard 
by the mental ear ; and just as this mental tone is true or 
untrue, firm or uncertain, so precisely will its audible 
counterpart be. But this order finds its most complete 
illustration in the endlessly varied applications of me- 
chanical science to the uses of man. These applications 
constitute one of the distinguishing glories of civilization. 
Since every thing in nature has more than a single use, 
and often multiplied uses for the same thing are known to 
us, it is a reasonable supposition that mechanical science 
has also its uses, beyond and above all these material ap- 
plications. A leading object of these papers has been to 
trace some of these spiritual uses. We now find ourselves 
face to face with another and an important one. Mechanical 
science exhibits the whole philosophy of the perception of 
spiritual realities by recognition. It shows how it is pos- 
sible for us to have any realities, that are not of a nature 
to be revealed to us through our physical organs merely, 
placed before our very eyes continually, obvious to those 
who can recognize them by their resemblance to images 
already formed in their consciousness, but absolutely 
hidden from those who can form no such recognition, and 



200 NATURAL RELIGION. 

also beyond the power of words to convey the knowledge 
of them, except so far as the words can revive in con- 
sciousness images that had been previously formed. 

In a moving machine the uninstructed mind sees parts 
in motion merely, and this is all that it can see. The 
mechanically instructed mind, on the contrary, in a degree 
precisely proportionate to the depth of its own insight, 
sees that which produces and determines every motion, 
and the object and effect of every motion, and the forces, 
static and dynamic, that are exerted, or that are developed, 
in every part of the machine, to produce or resist motion. 
This perception varies with each individual, and no finite 
mind ever possessed that complete insight that would en- 
able it to recognize every force that is exerted in even the 
most simple moving machine. 

Thus we find it to be the case respecting force, in these 
various modes of its manifestation, that if images corre- 
sponding sufficiently to these modes of manifestation have 
not already been formed in our consciousness, then we 
cannot recognize these manifestations of force, we are 
dead to their existence. But if these are already familiar 
objects to us, then we look within the material forms, 
and recognize their presence. 

So, if we were not ourselves capable of mechanical con- 
struction, we could not recognize mechanical construction 
in the works of God. If we possessed no mechanical skill 
ourselves, mechanical skill in the universe would be shown 
to us in vain. All things would possess no more signifi- 
cance for us than, except to a very few scholars, the 
cuneiform inscriptions do. We would see only shapes 
that had no meaning. These shapes become informed 
for us with thoughts, only because we ourselves can inform 
material shapes with thoughts. 

It is also to be observed that if the likeness of any spir- 



NATURAL RELIGION. 20I 

itual reality that is shown to us exists already in our 
consciousness, we must recognize it. If our own con- 
sciousness furnishes an analogous reality, then the mani- 
festation of the constructive thought, purpose, and skill 
cannot be presented to us without their instant recognition. 
We at once look within the material form, and behold the 
spiritual reality. 

Thus mechanical science gives us the key to all spiritual 
perception. Beyond mere material forms, we see without 
only that which we recognize, because the same thing 
already exists within ourselves. If we are ourselves 
skilled workmen, and nothing else, then we can see in the 
physical universe only the skilled workman. If we are 
chemists and nothing more, creation is for us the uni- 
versal laboratory of the infinite chemist. If we are merely 
mathematicians, we can form no conception associated 
with any thing that we see except a mathematical concep- 
tion. So far as they go, these conceptions would all be 
correct. The fault with them is that they are only partial 
and subordinate conceptions. But every moral being is 
capable of something more than being a skilled workman, 
or a chemist, or a mathematician. He is capable, also, of 
the feeling of love in endless degree of development, and 
of perceiving the fact, that this feeling of love is the sole 
foundation of all worthy character and conduct. Just in 
the degree that this feeling exists, the universe is seen to 
be animated by love. This is God, and thus only through 
the necessary recognition of love can God be revealed to 
man. 

A little incident, that became invested with both a 
sweet and a mournful interest, will perhaps help us to see 
more clearly the line between the revelation of God and 
the deductions of natural theology. In the summer of 
1882, travelling one evening on the steamboat Bristoly I 



202 NATURAL RELIGION. 

spent a few minutes in looking through the window in the 
saloon at the engine. While thus occupied, I heard an 
exclamation of delight near me, and turning I saw a girl of 
seventeen or eighteen years, attended by a gentleman, and 
gazing with rapture on the ponderous machinery. I was 
instantly arrested by her appearance, and thought I had 
never seen so spiritual an expression. Her face was 
luminous, and riveted my sight. After watching the 
movements of the great engine in silence for some time, 
she slowly exclaimed, as if to herself, unconscious of any 
other presence, '' only to think of the iiiind — that could 
plan all that ! " The next morning I read in a Boston 
journal the telegraphic announcement of the death of 
Erastus W. Smith, the designer of the engines of the 
Bristol, and so the last one of the long line of discoverers 
and inventors and designers, whose minds had successively 
helped to " plan all that." 

Here the intelligence of this remarkable young person 
had penetrated to, and her whole thought was absorbed 
by, the only spirituality that the case could present to her, 
and that was, the mind that could plan what was to her so 
wonderful. A mechanical expert would, of course, see 
much more than this. In a degree corresponding with 
the degree of his own skill and experience, he would see 
the functions of the various parts of the mechanism, and 
the adaptation of each part to its purpose. He would per- 
ceive the expansive energy of the steam, and the opera- 
tions that must go on out of sight, in order that visible 
action should take place. Each of these things, and 
many others, would be recognized by the expert, just so 
far as corresponding images had previously been formed 
in his mind, and no further. 

x\ll this was, of course, entirely beyond the girl's per- 
ception. She had never had formed in her consciousness 



NATURAL RELIGION. 203 

images that would enable her to recognize any of these 
features. She had only a vague and wondering idea of 
the intelligence that would enable a mind to " plan all 
that." About this mind two things are to be noted : 
First, the conclusion is not warranted that it could do any 
thing else except this. Probably it could not do any other 
thing so well. Secondly, the perception of this mind does 
not suggest the idea of any personal relation whatever 
between itself and the admirer of its work. No thought 
or feeling arises of love or faith or worship. The suggest- 
ion of such sentiments is seen to be utterly incongruous. 

This illustrates the failure of natural theology, and re- 
veals its cause. This miscalled science employs a wrong 
method, or rather it is a wrong method. It is as if a man 
should begin at the top to build a house. The method of 
natural theology is utterly powerless to create in the spirit 
the activity of universal love. It can therefore give to us 
no perception of God, the Being animated by infinite 
love, and with whom we have the closest personal rela- 
tions. The Bible teaches us that the activity of universal 
love, that form of our spiritual activity by which we are 
able to recognize God, is a divine gift. Natural theology, 
on the contrary, assumes that without the employment of 
this gift, the knowledge of God can be attained by a pro- 
cess of reasoning. It is a human method, in opposition 
to the divine method. 

I have insensibly been led back to the further discussion 
of natural theology ; but will now endeavor to adhere to 
the especial line of observation that I have proposed, and 
to present in a brief form a few illustrations of the wisdom 
and skill that fill the universe. 

When God has been revealed in the spirit, then it is 
true that all education is a help, and a very great help, 
to the recognition of his presence. There are two obser- 



204 NATURAL RELIGION. 

vations of a general nature that are calculated to make 
an especially deep impression on the mind of the engineer, 
on account of the education that he has received. The 
first of these observations is — creation without a mistake ! 
This overwhelming fact cannot arrest the attention of 
others in the same degree. Indeed the mass of mankind 
are inclined rather to pass it idly by, as a thing of course. 
But the engineer becomes acquainted with the slow and 
painful growth of mechanical thoughts in finite minds. 
He is familiar with the constant mistakes that mark the 
progress of every mechanical invention from its rude in- 
ception to its successful use. He knows, moreover, that 
perfection is never reached by man ; that the detection of 
defects in any human work is only a question of depth of 
insight. He is aware that, while any single mind always 
finds its resources exhausted, and for that reason can 
often see nothing wanting in its work, still improvements 
perpetually suggest themselves to fresh explorers. Words 
cannot convey an idea of the indescribable sensation of awe 
with which such a mind contemplates the perfection that 
it sees exhibited throughout the mechanism of the creation. 
The second of these observations is this : In human 
mechanical constructions simplicity is found to be a prime 
necessity. This feature is the constant aim of every suc- 
cessful designer. Moreover, when the parts of any ma- 
chine are numerous, the disposition of them, so that they 
may operate without interfering with each other, is 
always a serious problem, and often it is one involving 
grave difficulties. Now, when a mind familiar with this 
experience contemplates what appears to it as the appall- 
ing complications which are involved in all the structural 
works of the Creator, complications which, commencing 
with the disposition and movements of the heavenly 
bodies, extend throughout all being, and seem greatest 



NATURAL RELIGION. 205 

of all in the structure of the most minute organisms, and 
when he beholds everywhere perfect harmony of structure 
and of operation, he cannot fail again to be impressed by 
the sight in a degree that is not possible in another mind 
not possessed of the same practical knowledge. He sees 
that in the works of God it is not necessary to sacrifice 
any thing to simplicity. While in each individual organi- 
zation the number and the variety of functions to be per- 
formed seem endless, the most direct means for performing 
each one are always provided, nothing is wanting that is 
required for any use, and nothing is found to exist except 
for a use, and, however massed together, every member of 
each separate system performs its functions without inter- 
ference from any others. 

Although observations on this subject that are possible 
here must be very superficial, since a lifetime may be 
devoted to the study of a single organism, and even to a 
single member or feature of an organism, still, even upon 
such a general view, we cannot fail everywhere to behold 
infinite intelligence in its omnipresent activity. 

A few illustrations will be given, drawn from the circu- 
lations in nature. The first two of these have been se- 
lected because they present familiar examples of what, to 
my own mind, has been especially impressive, namely, the 
adaptation which is everywhere to be observed of a single 
agency to a variety of uses, and also the harmonious 
cooperation of various distinct agencies for the accom- 
plishment of a single end. The third illustration is chosen 
on account of its mechanical interest. 

The first of these illustrations will be found in 

THE CIRCULATION OF WATER. 

Water presents the only form or combination of matter 
in the fluid state that can support either vegetable or 



2o6 NATURAL RELIGION. 

animal life. The structure of every organism is adapted 
to receive it, and ever}^ one is dependent upon it. Every 
animal and every vegetable must drink or perish. The 
presence and purity of this universal necessity are secured 
by a continuous circulation, in which water, rising in an 
invisible state from the Avhole surface of the earth, is 
borne in the air, either in this state or in the form of 
clouds, until, under certain as yet unknown conditions, it 
is returned to the earth in rain or snow. 

For the existence of water we are indebted to the 
pressure of the atmosphere. Indeed, if the atmosphere 
exerted no pressure there could be no organic being. 
Organic being is dependent upon water, and water exists 
in a fluid state only under pressure. Under the pressure 
of the atmosphere, and at ordinary temperatures, water 
passes gradually into the gaseous state. As the vapor 
that is formed by this evaporation becomes cooled in the 
upper regions of the atmosphere, a portion of it is con- 
densed and forms clouds. Here phenomena appear which 
science has not yet attempted to explain. 

By this condensation minute drops of water are formed. 
There is no intermediate state of this substance between 
water and the invisible elastic gas known as vapor or 
steam. Clouds differ from lakes only in the minute sub- 
division, and separation of the particles, of the water that 
composes both alike. At the ordinary mean elevation of 
clouds each one of the drops of water of which they con- 
sist is about one thousand times heavier than the air that 
it displaces, and yet it does not fall, not even when frozen, 
which is very often the case. By some means, also, the 
particles of water in a cloud are kept at a uniform dis- 
tance from each other. When, under some unknown 
change of conditions, these become united in larger drops, 
the water descends to the earth to perform its innumerable 
functions. 



NATURAL RELIGION. 20/ 

Concerning the nature of the forces, which operate to 
determine the size of the minute particles of water that 
are formed by the condensation of a portion of the uni- 
formly diffused vapor, which keep those particles at a dis- 
tance from each other, and which prevent them from fall- 
ing directly to the earth — the forces to the action of which 
we are indebted for the formation of clouds, — we are as 
yet ignorant. We are in equal ignorance, also, of the 
forces which determine the varied forms and dispositions 
of the clouds themselves. No plausible theory even, of a 
definite nature, has been advanced respecting the causes 
of any of these phenomena.^ 

Rising from the earth purified and invisible, revealing 
itself in the heavens in forms of beauty, and thence de- 
scending to renew all life, water presents to us a perpetual 
symbol. 

A general survey of some of the functions that water 
performs and has performed will show the important 
part that was allotted to this familiar fluid in the scheme 
of the world. By its means the earth has been made hab- 
itable. Infinite pains have been taken to transform the 
original chaos of jagged igneous rocks, broken and heaped 
by contraction and protrusion, into the beautiful world on 
which we dwell ; and water has been the medium, or the 
essential agent, employed in doing the whole work. The 
extent of this work, and the time during which it has 
been in progress, are shown in the facts, that, with the 
exception of occasional ejected masses, there remains no 
original igneous rock on the surface of the earth, and the 
strata of formations that have been effected through the 
agency of water reach to the known depth of twenty 
miles. Water has carried in suspension, or has contained 

' Recent experiments on the condensation of metallic vapors strengthen 
the presumption that these causes may be of an electrical nature. 



2o8 NATURAL RELIGION. 

in solution, has separated and pulverized by its motion, 
and has compacted by its pressure, this entire mass of the 
crust of the earth. It has been essential also to every 
combining and cementing and crystallizing process. More- 
over, the alluvium in all its forms, gravel, clay, loam, and 
sand, desert and fertile ground alike, is the effect of the 
action of water. 

Water dissolves out of the soil all mineral substances 
that are required in the growth of plants. In this state of 
solution these substances are absorbed by the roots of 
plants, and are conducted upward to their leaves, there to 
enter into the combination with carbon, by which the 
earth becomes clothed with the varied forms of ve^-etable 

o 

life. This union of mineral substances in solution with 
carbon forms the basis of all organic being, of which being 
in all its forms, both vegetable and animal, water consti- 
tutes also by far the larger part. 

As water is the medium employed by the Infinite Intel- 
ligence by which nearly all chemical and physical changes 
on the earth have been and are noAv being made, so also 
we find it to be the medium given to man, to be employed 
by him, in both its fluid and its gaseous states, for the 
conversion of heat into every form of useful energy. 

The ministr\' of water never ceases. Its change of state 
is onlv chano-e of use. A\'hen mingled with the atmos- 
phere as an invisible vapor it has a new service allotted to 
it. Now it wraps the earth with a protecting mantle, to 
prevent the too rapid loss, by radiation into space, of the 
heat received from the sun. The value of this service is 
shown by the condition of lofty mountains, Avhere the 
action of the aqueous vapor in preventing this loss of 
heat becomes less efficient. The mountain-tops are 
covered with eternal snow, in spite of the fact that the 
heat received by them from the sun is far greater than the 



NATURAL RELIGION. 209 

amount that is able to penetrate the invisible envelope 
and reach to the level of the sea. This action of water 
affords a striking example of the general truth, of which 
fresh illustrations reward investigation in every depart- 
ment of physics, that Infinite Wisdom has anticipated 
and provided for every requirement. 
Our second illustration is afforded by 

THE CIRCULATION OF CARBON. 

After water, carbon forms one of the principal constitu- 
ents of both vegetable and animal organisms. Its circula- 
tion, which involves the ceaseless destruction and renewal 
of physical life, is crowded with activities, of which only 
the more general features come within the range of our 
observation. 

Carbon is not soluble in any known substance. It 
exists separately only in the solid state. From this it 
passes directly, without intermediate fluidity, into the 
gaseous state, by combining with oxygen, from which it 
has not yet been dissociated so as to be obtained as a 
separate gas. Carbonic-acid gas, the familiar compound 
thus formed, is diffused in a minute proportion throughout 
the atmosphere, forming one twenty-fifth of one per cent, 
of its volume, and from this source the vegetable king- 
dom, and thence the animal kingdom also, derives its 
entire supply of carbon. 

We witness here a phenomenon of a wonderful charac- 
ter, but which is only a type of a class of phenomena that 
are to be observed universally. This is the cooperative 
action of separate and remote agencies, for the accom- 
plishment of a single end or purpose. In the leaves of 
plants, as already stated, the two constituents of their 
being meet. These are mineral substances, brought by 
water from the soil, and carbon, borne in the air. Other 



2IO NATURAL RELIGION. 

remarkable features are also to be noted. If carbon were 
soluble in water, or if mineral substances were not so, in 
either case, the vegetable and animal creations, as these 
are constituted, could not exist. It is only in the leaves 
of plants that sunlight exerts any influence to dissociate 
carbon from its union Avith oxygen. 

In some of its vegetable combinations, carbon is 
adapted to the nutritive organs of animals, and being 
received by them in these combinations, it becomes, next 
after water and its elements, the chief constituent of the 
organic portions of their bodies. 

From both these associations or uses, vegetable and 
animal, carbon returns directly to its combination with 
oxygen. All combustion, and all decay, of either vege- 
table or animal tissues, is this recombination, in rapid or 
in gradual progress, which is also the chief terrestrial 
source of heat. In animals, this return of carbon to its 
chemical union with oxygen goes on continually through- 
out the organism, and is the source of animal heat. The 
carbonic-acid gas, which is formed in this manner, is 
brought by the blood from every part of the body to the 
lungs, and is discharged into the atmosphere at each expi- 
ration, while the blood returns charged continually with 
fresh oxygen, by which the process is continued. 

A remarkable provision is here to be noted, by which 
this recombination of carbon with the oxygen of the 
atmosphere is rendered possible. Oxygen has an almost 
universal affinity for other substances, except nitrogen, 
the gas with which it is mingled in the atmosphere. By 
reason of this general and strong greediness of oxygen 
for combination with other forms of matter, it has resulted, 
that this gas forms the larger component of nearly all 
compound substances, both in their solid and fluid, as well 
as their gaseous states. Oxygen combines with hydrogen 



NATURAL RELIGION. 211 

to form water, and it combines with various bases to form 
all the rocks and clays of the globe. All these combina- 
tions are of a permanent character. In the first one the 
two gases assume the liquid state under the ordinary con- 
ditions of heat and pressure. In all the combinations of 
the second class, oxygen becomes a solid. In contrast 
with all others of its almost universal combinations, 
stands the case of the union of oxygen with carbon. 
Here oxygen retains its gaseous form, and the solid car- 
bon becomes a gas. This exceptional action brings 
carbon into the state in which it is adapted to re-com- 
mence its endless circuit, in the development of plant-life. 
Sufficient evidence is afforded here of a special purpose, 
in establishing the peculiar nature of the combination of 
oxygen with carbon. This is, however, only a prominent 
illustration of an innumerable number of cases, in which 
special provision is obviously made for special uses. 
Indeed, the cases in which the special purpose is evident 
to us are so numerous, that we are warranted in the 
important conclusion, that a special purpose determines 
every combination or association of matter. 

But we have been led away from what is perhaps the 
most remarkable feature of the case. Not only does oxy- 
gen retain its gaseous form, and the solid carbon become a 
gas in this combination, but in order that this shall take 
place at all, there must be precisely what is found to exist, 
namely, that complete want of affinity of oxygen for nitro- 
gen which has just been mentioned. There is no chemical 
bond or attraction between these constituents of the at- 
mosphere that would need to be broken, before the union 
of oxygen with carbon could take place. Oxygen has no 
attraction whatever for nitrogen, but these exist together 
in a merely mechanical mixture. Nitrogen acts, however, 
as a diluent of the oxygen, and prevents its too rapid 



212 NATURAL RELIGION. 

union with carbon. It thus renders a most important 
service. The affinity of oxygen for carbon is so strong, 
that, were the oxygen undiluted by nitrogen, their union 
would be destructive of life in all its forms. 

These examples illustrate the dependence of all physi- 
cal being, and of the various effects that are obviously in- 
tended in nature, upon the presence of matter, in precisely 
the states and forms and proportions that are observed, 
and also upon the possession by each separate form of 
matter of the precise qualities that it is seen to have. The 
sincere mind cannot contemplate without emotion the per- 
fect adaptation to its office of each one of the inumerable 
agencies, on whose harmonious activity all physical being 
depends. 

Our third illustration will be drawn from 

THE CIRCULATION OF THE BLOOD IN ANIMALS. 

This has a peculiar interest, because it shows a remark- 
able provision for avoiding mechanical difficulties. 

There are two features of the circulation of the blood, 
which, until recently, have escaped the attention of 
physiologists. If, in the provision for animal existence, 
these had also escaped the attention of the Creator, the 
animal creation would have been a failure, the mechanism 
would not have worked. 

Since the discovery of the circulation of the blood, it has 
until within a few years been supposed or assumed that 
the flow of the blood, through the channels provided for it, 
was produced entirely by the action of the heart. It was 
obvious that this powerful muscle acts as a pump, first by 
its expansion, admitting the blood into its cavities, and 
then, by its contraction, impelling it through the arteries, 
capillaries, and veins. With this evident action investi- 
gators were for a long time satisfied, and inquired no 



n 



NATURAL RELIGION. 215 

further. This action, however, considered as the only 
action that takes place, involves two difficulties that did 
not suggest themselves, until they were made apparent by 
the analogies that are afforded in mechanical experience. 

The first of these difficulties is found in the hydrostatic 
column. In any system of pipes filled with water, either 
at rest or in motion, the pressure of water at the base is. 
greater than it is at a line six feet above the base, by two 
and five eighths pounds on each square inch of area. Blood 
being about six per cent, heavier than water, if its circula- 
tion were produced by the action of the heart alone, a 
difference, amounting, on the average of individuals, to 
about two pounds on the square inch, would exist between 
the pressures of blood in the head and in the feet, when 
the body is in the erect position, and this difference would 
disappear on lying down. Now we know that, in fact, nO' 
such difference exist. Under normal or healthy condi- 
tions the pressure of the blood is uniform throughout our 
bodies, and is unaffected by change of position. In some 
way this difficulty has been completely avoided. 

The second difficulty is of a nature, if possible, still' 
more serious. It consists in the disposition of fluids in 
motion to take the shortest road. This is a very obstinate 
disposition. In the experience of men with their own con- 
structions, it has been found invariably, that, when alter- 
native passages between two points are provided for a, 
fluid, a very little difference in the length or the direct- 
ness of these passages is sufficient to cause the fluid to 
choose the shorter or more direct route, passing entirely 
through this channel, and standing quite motionless in 
the other. 

Now in this respect the different routes that are traversed 
by the blood present extreme contrasts. Through some 
of the arteries and veins the communication, from the 



214 NATURAL RELIGION. 

side of the heart from which the blood is discharged 
around to the opposite side, at which it re-enters it, is 
short and comparatively direct, while through others it is 
many times longer and more tortuous. But the hy- 
draulic engineer beholds with wonder the fact, that the 
current of the blood flows through all these alike. The 
action of the blood, in conveying nutriment to the most 
remote parts of the body, and in bringing away the effete 
matter from them, is precisely as efficient as it is in those 
parts that lie nearest to the heart. By some means this 
difficulty also has been surmounted. How have these 
two results, which are impossible with man, been effected ? 
Among recent discoveries in animal physiology is the 
following important one, which affords the principal an- 
swer to this question. The powerful contractile action of 
the heart has been discovered to be the commencement of 
a muscular contractile wave, that passes from the heart 
along every artery. What we feel in the pulse was long 
supposed to be the swelling of the artery under the pres- 
sure of the current driven along by the contraction of the 
heart. This supposition involved another difficulty, to 
which no attention was paid. The supposed swelling of 
the artery would involve a resistance to the passage of 
the blood, and there would be a consequent loss of pres- 
sure at every point, by the amount expended in overcom- 
ing this resistance. Now it is known that the pulse is not 
such a swelling of the artery, but is the passage of this 
muscular contractile wave. Each one of these waves 
sends before it, in each artery, a volume of blood precisely 
proportioned to its capacity, and independent of the dis- 
tance or direction of the flow, and maintains a uniform 
pressure to every extremity of the body. That wonderful 
action affords the only conceivable solution of this com- 
plicated mechanical problem. 



NATURAL RELIGION. 215 

' The next remarkable feature is, that the various arteries 
and their branches are nicely proportioned in area and 
strength to the extent of the regions which are to be sup- 
plied with blood through them. By this careful adapta- 
tion, under the uniform wave pressure, every part of the 
body receives its equal nutriment, and we have symmetry 
of form. A muscular action, similar to the wave action in 
the arteries, is to be observed, impelling each swallow of 
water upwards along the neck of the horse and some 
other animals while drinking. 

This glance at a few features, taken almost at random, 
and which are no more remarkable than is every thing else 
in nature, of which many examples will suggest themselves 
to the intelligent reader, will be concluded with a brief 
reference to a few of the relations or adaptations of widely 
different things to each other, which are everywhere found. 
These adaptations are so familiar, that they fail to impress 
us. We are liable to become as insensible to them as the 
ruler of the synagogue was to the present divinity, whose 
presence there, indeed, was not, in reality, any more mani- 
fest than it is always and everywhere, but which was so 
involuntarily confessed by him when he said : " There are 
six days in which men ought to work ; in them, therefore, 
come and be healed. 

These adaptations are such, as that of the sun, at such 
a vast distance, to varied forms of matter on the earth, so 
as by its heat and light to quicken them into those activi- 
ties, out of which both vegetable and animal life are 
developed, and by which these are supported ; as the 
structure of the lungs of animals, with reference to the 
vital interchange, by the blood, of carbonic-acid gas for 
oxygen, which is perpetually being effected within them ; 
as the adaptation of the eye to light, and of both the eye 
and light, on the one hand, to the objects that are to be 



2l6 NATURAL RELIGION. 

revealed by their joint agency, and, on the other hand, to 
the spirit to whom the revelation of these objects is to be 
made ; as the adaptation of the wings of birds to the air, 
and to the weight of the body that in each case is to be 
supported in it, and to their further office of impelling this 
body through it ; and so universally the adaptation of each 
member of every organism, not only to its function, but 
also to those natural agencies which cooperate with it in 
the performance of that function. This list might be 
extended indefinitely. These examples are sufficient to 
indicate an instructive line of observation and thought. 

An impressive instance of the adaptation of physical to 
spiritual being, as well as of the performance of different 
functions by a single agency, is seen in the case of the at- 
mosphere. Besides being the supporter of combustion 
and of animal and vegetable life, and performing a variety 
of familiar functions, by its pressure and otherwise, the 
atmosphere is the medium for the conduction of sound, 
or, speaking correctly, for comunicating the vibrations of 
other bodies to the ears of animals. 

All matter is capable of being put into a state of vibra- 
tion. The variety of these vibrations is infinite. Each 
one is communicated to the omnipresent air, which is in 
close contact with all bodies, under pressure. The atmos- 
phere repeats and transmits all these vibrations by corre- 
sponding pulsations. It, moreover, repeats and transmits 
simultaneously all different vibrations that may be com- 
municated to it, however numerous these may be, without 
any one being modified or affected in any manner by the 
others. The ears of animals are adapted to receive and 
repeat, in their turn, the vibrations which are communi- 
cated to them by the atmosphere. Thus in some un- 
known way the mind forms the notion of sound. Sound 
is wholly a mental conception. The vibrations of matter 



NATURAL RELIGION. 21/ 

are silent. The waves of the air also are as noiseless as 
the unbroken waves of the ocean. We have no idea how 
the sensation of sound is produced. Anatomy traces the 
most delicate and curious structure. But all observation 
of which we seem to be capable ends where it begins, on 
the silent vibrations of matter. 

Through the medium of the atmosphere our spirits com- 
municate with one another. For this purpose we employ 
the gift of speech. This also is produced by organs which 
have been designed with express reference to the atmos- 
phere. Like every other organ of our frames, the organs 
of speech, to our limited understanding, appear compli- 
cated, and in much of their extent obscure. We find in 
them, as everywhere else, every thing adapted in fact, 
however little we may be able to understand it, to the 
accomplishment of the perfect result ; which in this case 
is unlimited capability of expression. 

Here, indeed, where the material and the spiritual con- 
nect, is something passing wonder. There is not a senti- 
ment or feeling or emotion of the soul, existing in any de- 
gree whatever, that the voice is not adapted to express. 
And, what is more than this, the voice does spontaneously 
express it. And as the ear receives the pulsations thus 
communicated to the air, the listening spirit recognizes the 
sentiment or feeling or emotion. Thus, all human sympa- 
thies are interchanged, soul communicating with soul, 
through the amazing mechanisms of the vocal organs and 
the ear, and the pulsations of the silent air. 

In reviewing these wonders of creative skill, we have 
followed the conventional fashion, and have described 
them as if we were viewing a machine. But the spirit 
that has received the revelation of the ever-living God 
chafes under this impersonality. Through all nature it 



2l8 NATURAL RELIGION. 

sees his presence and his activity. It knows the motive 
of this infinite pains. It sees the love of God, shining in 
every ray of Hght, falHng in every drop of rain, smiHng in 
every flower, ripening every grain, imparting Hfe in every 
breath. Love is the unity that runs throughout and con- 
nects the endless diversity. This love is manifested in all 
practical ways, in all common things. From its very nature, 
it must be in a state of ceaseless beneficent activity, in ways 
adapted to every want of every creature, especially to every 
want of man, from the very lowest up to the very highest. 

It is a remarkable fact, that similar conduct, or practi- 
cal manifestation of love, constitutes the test that was 
given by the Christ, to determine the existence of love in 
the human spirit : " I was hungry and ye gave me meat, 
I was thirsty and ye gave me drink." We at once recog- 
nize this conduct, in the case of man, as affording the real 
evidence of the existence of love. We see it to be its 
necessary expression. 

Here, also, is found the real solution of the painful 
problems of sociology. All human devices resting on any 
other foundation, must come to naught. The divine pro- 
vision is the simple and radical one, — universal love, as 
the animating spring of human, as it is of the divine, conduct. 

The varied agencies for the promotion of human wel- 
fare, Avhich have more or less recently commenced their 
beneficent work, and which are now from time time com- 
ing into being, can be useful only in the degree in which 
they really are agencies, not of man, but of God, repre- 
senting in this supreme respect their Infinite Principal. 

Of the divine love, as revealed in nature, we can, at the 
best, at present form in our minds only faint and distorted 
conceptions. The same love must become developed in 
ourselves in an unspeakably increased degree, before these 
conceptions can become clear and true. 



\ 



NATURAL KELIGIOX. 219 

The view of the manifestation of God in nature which 
is attempted in these papers will doubtless be regarded by 
many as a very strange view. What is called education 
has perpetuated the influence of ruder ages. The the- 
ological mind is still filled with frightful images of the 
justice of God, and is taught to look in nature for little 
else except illustrations of the text, so little understood : 
'' The soul that sinneth it shall die." One of the favorite 
theological axioms still is : " There is no mercy in nature.'* 
To look in nature for the complete manifestation of God is 
to such minds as foolish as Christianity was to the Greeks; 
and yet there the complete manifestation of God must be. 
Christians have not been taught to hear, and so they do 
not hear, throughout nature the yearning cries : " Come 
unto me," ''Why will ye die," " What more could I have 
done to my vineyard ? " and yet nature is vocal with this 
appeal. The formal, lifeless conceptions of a moral gov- 
ernor, a judge, and a system of rewards and punishments, 
harden the hearts of men, so that they cannot feel 
throughout all nature the throbbing of the love of God, 
manifested in infinite care, and symbolizing in all beauty 
and glory its infinite tenderness. The theological logician 
has little taste for this " sentiment," the practical character 
of which we are now observing, and which if mankind 
could participate in, they would need, even as those beings 
who do participate in it do need, no other revelation ; 
that sentiment, harmony of the soul with which is life, 
antagonism to which is death. 

For one who is fond of observing the practical ways in 
which the universal love of God finds its expression, the 
material provision that has been made for man's activity 
and development presents an attractive field. Our whole 
being consists of wants. The progress of civilization is 
indicated by the increase in the number, and by the eleva- 



220 NATURAL RELIGION. 

tion in the character, of our wants. For the supply of 
those of a physical nature we are wholly dependent on the 
earth. But we scarcely think of this dependence. The 
earth abounds with resources, adapted to every want as it 
arises. These we appropriate to our service, generally 
without a thought either of the dependence or the provi- 
sion. A brief reference to a single one of these provisions 
may aid us to a partial realization of their varied and 
boundless nature. 

If an individual, in ignorance of any reality, should en- 
deavor to imagine what a Being of infinite knowledge and 
beneficence would be most likely to provide for man, in a 
single form of matter, everywhere distributed, which would 
be of the utmost general use to him, which he could put 
into shapes suitable for any purpose, which in weight and 
strength would meet the greatest variety of his require- 
ments, which would be capable of combining with other 
forms of matter, and in these combinations would possess 
a variety of useful properties additional to its own, which, 
as his civilization advanced, he would find suited to a 
greater and greater number of his wants, and, as his knowl- 
edge increased, he would be able to apply to a greater and 
greater variety of purposes, and which, in all its forms, and 
in the characters that it assumes by combining with other 
substances, would be especially adapted to aid him in 
applying the agencies of nature to his use, and so in pro- 
moting his own civilization, the strongest imagination 
could never have conceived of the reality that we possess 
in IRON. No finite mind can comprehend the innumera- 
ble uses of iron, from the cultivation of the soil to the 
transmission of thought, nor measure its importance to 
the human race. But iron is only one of the multitude of 
provisions for our welfare, with which we are already 
familiar. Probably there is no form of matter without 



NATURAL RELIGION. 221 

its use, or more likely its multitude of uses, very many of 
which we have yet to learn. In the animal frame every 
part has its use. We have reason to believe that the 
same must be the case with every form of matter in the 
earth also, and that too in a higher sense, namely, in 
adaptation to the voluntary employment of it by man. 

In earlier papers the physical creation has been pre- 
sented as our educator in two respects. Attention has 
been directed to the ministries of force and of truth. 
Our complete dependence on the physical creation for our 
mental, as well as for our physical, sustenance and growth 
has been briefly referred to. We have admired the adap- 
tation of all things by which we are surrounded to the de- 
velopment of our spiritual as well as our physical powers, 
by use and exercise. We have seen, moreover, how truth 
in the physical creation is adapted to promote the growth 
of truth in the human spirit. The latter we recognize to 
be a higher office than the former. The elevation of 
human character is an object of unspeakably greater con- 
sequence than the increase of human knowledge. The 
normal effect upon mankind of all physical influences 
should be the advance of character and knowledge 'hand 
in hand. 

Now, we have presented to us another adaptation, har- 
monious with these, but of a higher nature still. To bring 
the human spirit in its emotional nature, in its essential 
being, into harmony with the nature of God, is an object 
to which all other objects must be subordinate. These 
must be accounted worthy or unworthy, just as they tend 
to promote or to hinder this supreme result. All educa- 
tion has its noblest use and reason in the fact, that it fits 
the soul of man more intelligently and more profoundly 
to worship God. This supreme end, of transforming the 
spiritual nature of man into likeness to God, is the end 



222 NATURAL RELIGION. 

that the physical creation is above all adapted, and so 
evidently is intended, to promote. It performs this work, 
first, by the constant exhibition of truth, which has 
already been dwelt upon, and secondly, and chiefly, by set- 
ting before mankind, perpetually, the stupendous mani- 
festation of the infinite, the universal, and the unchange- 
able love of God. 

We have observed that everywhere in nature there is to 
be seen the cooperation of many independent agencies, 
working together in harmony, for the accomplishment of 
every particular purpose. In the same manner we have 
these infinitely varied manifestations of the divine love in 
nature, evidently intended to cooperate in perfect har- 
mony with the supreme manifestation of this love that is 
revealed in the Bible, for the accomplishment of the same 
great purpose. It is of the utmost consequence that this 
harmony should be recognized. Then the sacrifice of the 
cross must be looked upon as the necessary expression of 
the same love that is shown in nature. It is seen to be 
precisely what we ought to look for. 

The adaptation of the physical creation to its inferior 
educational uses is something that we recognize at once, 
and turn it to full practical account. For this purpose 
we give all diligence to the study of nature. We derive 
all possible intellectual advantage from the wonders of the 
creation by which we are environed. But the highest of 
its uses, and the one which it was obviously intended 
above all others to serve, we are slow to perceive. We 
are not eager to study the love of God in nature, and to 
open our souls to its transforming influence. This supreme 
spiritual revelation we are blind to naturally, and this 
blindness has been deepened by our system of education. 

Physical science, as at present limited, is chiefly respon- 
sible for the false education that now generally prevails. 



NATURAL RELIGION. 223 

This science exercises a controlling influence on the forma- 
tion of our very habits of thought, and it supplies, to a 
great extent, the formulas of speech that men are accus- 
tomed to employ. Its influence in this respect is mis- 
chievous. It disregards and ignores the principal thing. 
It forms its conclusions on a partial view of the facts. It 
admits into consciousness only that knowledge to which 
the mind reaches in the inferior modes of its activity. To 
these things it insists upon confining the attention, as to 
the only things that can be known. The highest of all 
truths, that which at once unifies and vivifies the whole, 
the truth that is of so much greater consequence than 
those to which science limits its thought, that it were in- 
finitely better that all those should perish out of human 
knowledge than that this one should be lost, to this truth 
science is dead. 

It ignores, as a source of knowledge, the highest form 
of our spiritual activity, through which alone the revela- 
tion of the highest truth can be received. It dismisses, as 
undeserving of philosophic regard, the activity of love, 
the spring of all worthy conduct in man, and by the 
recognition of which only can infinite love be revealed, 
which is the spring of all the conduct of God. And it ex- 
alts '' the reason," a fiction of its own brain, and makes 
the supposed conclusions of ''the understanding" the 
limits of its belief. 

This unspeakable foolishness is easily exposed. The 
philosopher says to one whom he looks down upon as an 
ignorant man, and who does not believe in his instruction: 
'' My friend, what do you know about the matter? What 
right have you to express, or even to form, any opinion at 
all on the subject?" Ah! it is clear enough that the 
ignorant unbeliever has not had all the facts revealed to 
him ; moreover, in his unprepared condition, he cannot re- 



^24 NATURAL RELIGION. 

ceive the revelation of them ; they are shown to him in 
vain. Yet he is presuming to exercise the judicial func- 
tions of his mind on the basis of what there is in his con- 
sciousness. Of course, he is judging of matters quite 
beyond him, on insufficient and erroneous and imaginary 
data. The unbeliever is himself, however, quite uncon- 
scious of all this. He cannot see, and so he will not 
believe, that outside of his little horizon there can exist 
any thing which, if he knew it, would change all his con- 
clusions. He insists upon the authority of what he has 
teen taught to call his reason. 

The philosopher abandons the attempt to enlighten 
liim ; sighs as he reflects upon the process through which 
the uneducated mind must pass before it can stand on his 
more elevated plane of thought ; then turns away, and 
proceeds to do the very same thing. While taking no 
account of the two controlling facts, namely, the being of 
God and the endowment of man with a mode of spiritual 
activity, by the recognition of which he comes to a certain 
knowledge of that being, the philosopher assumes that he 
embraces within his consciousness ever}^ thing required as 
a basis for a final judgment, and he appeals to his reason 
as the final arbiter. In the view of Infinite Intelligence, 
very little difference will appear between the knowledge 
of the two individuals, or their right to rely on their own 
judicial findings. 

At a meeting of the British Association for the Ad- 
vancement of Science, held at Newcastle-on-Tyne, some 
twenty years ago, I remember listening to an account, 
given by Mr. Glaisher, of a balloon ascension that he had 
made for scientific observations, with Mr. Coxwell, a 
noted aeronaut, from a point near London. This impres- 
sive description fixed itself in my memory. Mr. Glaisher 
said that as they rose higher and higher, irregularities on 



NATURAL RELIGION. 22$ 

the surface of the earth gradually disappeared ; well-known 
elevations became more and more indistinct ; until at last 
none of these could be recognized, but the whole land- 
scape appeared to be on one level, and that the level of the 
Thames. What a little way above the earth do we need 
to get, for its distinctions to disappear ! 

Science has had a surprising degree of success in ren- 
dering mankind insensible to the spiritual influences of 
the creation. Through the direction that it takes of our 
education, it is able actually to control our very modes of 
thought. It has taken care that no ideas beyond those of 
force and law shall enter the mind in its forming stage. 
This influence of science on the theological mind gen- 
-erally has far outweighed the effect of the contrary teach- 
ing of the Bible. 

On the other hand, false theology has also had its in- 
fluence on scientific thought. The conception of God, 
that removes him to a distance from his creation, and that 
adds a wrathful disposition to the Platonic conception of 
a remote passive Deity, was the conception that physical 
science, at its birth, found prevalent, though held with 
various degrees of definiteness, in the Christian world. Un- 
der the combined influence of these erroneous theological 
and scientific conceptions, it remains the case to this day, 
that pulpit instruction rarely rises above the impersonal 
idea, so fearfully false, of a regular constitution and order 
of nature, with which the Almighty only occasionally in- 
terferes. This false conception we see continually carried 
to the length of imagining a contrast between the God of 
nature and the God of grace ; a contrast that certainly 
exists between the true God and the imaginary being to 
which we arrive through an intellectual process. To the 
infinite presence, within all the modes and forms of His 
manifestation, of the God to whom it makes its supplica- 



226 NATURAL RELIGION. 

tions, the pulpit is, to a large degree, practically dead. 
We are spiritually bound in fetters forged by men, and 
may sigh for the freedom of the poet's poor Indian, 

' ' whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds, and hears him in the wind." 

It is believed that the lines of thought which have here 
been faintly traced, and that for only a short distance, lead 
in the direction of the truth. If this belief is well founded, 
then the cure for honest scientific scepticism ought to be 
found, by following these lines into the infinite spiritual 
domain toward which they tend. 

The being of God must be at once the fundamental and 
the supreme fact of philosophy, the Alpha and the Omega, 
the beginning and the end of all knowledge. This truth 
cannot be successfully disregarded. One thinker after 
another makes the attempt, and presents his scheme of 
philosophy, from which the Deity is omitted, and in which 
our dependence on Him for the revelation of truth is 
ignored. These schemes are all alike destitute of the 
principle of life, and so must meet the same fate. On 
their appearance they are often extravagantly lauded. 
The next generation has thinkers of its own, and their 
predecessors are neglected. 

As God is omnipresent in nature, so He should be 
present in every thought of nature. If in reality every 
thing in nature is the expression of His love, then any 
conception of any thing in nature to which the love of 
God is not fundamental must be at least an incomplete 
conception. It is to be borne in mind, that science is not 
the knowledge of physical truth in its reality, but that its 
generalizations are the conceptions which men form of 
such truth, which is a very different thing. These con- 
ceptions are as yet limited and gross. This feature 
marks the earlier stage of the growth or development 



NATURAL RELIGION. 22/ 

of scientific thought. The study of nature necessarily 
begins with the observation of things, which can be 
measured and weighed, and of facts and phenomena, on 
which all knowledge of truth must be founded. Also, 
in accounting for phenomena the mind at first looks no 
further than it is obliged to. The perception of the 
deepest spiritual realities must be a later attainment. 

It is safe to say that, when science emerges from its 
chrysalis state, it will no longer make it its great object 
to arrest man's thought at the point where his own being 
begins. It will not refuse to admit the highest truths into 
consciousness. Out of the infinity of relations that exist 
between what is called matter and man and God, as these 
relations are manifested in the physical creation, it will 
not select the lowest of all, or the relations between differ- 
ent forms of matter, as the only ones to which attention is 
to be directed. 

The false philosophy, that divides the human mind into 
imaginary separate natures, and that imagines truth, as 
being of divers kinds, corresponding to one and the other 
of these different natures, and that rejects the emotional 
nature as a source of knowledge, lies at the bottom of 
our present conventional and mistaken habits of thought. 

The cure, by which this condition, so disastrous in its 
effects, is to be remedied, must therefore be of a radical 
character. When this cure shall be effected, the fact will 
appear, most obvious and prominent, that the spiritual 
truth of the love of God underlies and manifests itself 
throughout the physical creation ; and that in this mani- 
festation or revelation of God to man creation fulfils its 
highest purpose. It will be in the recognition of this fact, 
which hitherto has not been generally recognized, by either 
theological or philosophical minds, that religion and science 
will meet. 



BEAUTY. 



We are so constituted, that the appearance of the physi- 
cal creation, or those manifestations of force which are 
observable by our senses, generally awaken within us 
pleasurable sensations or emotions. The feelings which 
are thus excited are various, both in kind and in degree. 
They differ with the different characters of the objects 
observed, and also, in degree especially, with the different 
characters of the minds observing them. 

Those feelings may all be comprised under the term 
pleasurable ; and, in a like general sense, beauty may be 
employed to express all the qualities, by the contempla- 
tion of which these pleasurable emotions are awakened. 
This general sense suits our present purpose. In this 
sense beauty in nature is that quality that is recognized 
with a sensation of pleasure by the beautiful mind. 

The first remarkable fact about beauty is its universality. 
This can hardly escape the notice of even the most super- 
ficial observer. In all the universe, with occasional excep- 
tions obviously abnormal, every sight and sound is adapted 
to awaken in the mind some kind and degree of pleasura- 
ble emotion. From the glory of the starry heavens, and 
the indescribable splendor of the sun, throughout every- 
thing that is revealed by its light, even to the most 
minute organism, every appearance in nature, great and 
small, distant and near, in sky and earth and sea, animate 

228 



BEA UTY. 22^ 

as well as inanimate, addresses itself, either in form, or 
color, or sound, or motion, or in one and another of these 
modes together, with a greater or lesser degree of impres- 
siveness, to our feeling of sympathy with beauty, or to 
the beautiful in our own nature. 

Beauty is, moreover, endlessly varied and ever new. 
The variety of its expressions may, with propriety, be 
described as infinite. The healthy mind never becomes 
weary of their contemplation, but on the contrar}^ grows 
more and more enamoured of them. It hails every new 
manifestation of beauty with new delight, and dwells 
upon every familiar one with deepening awe, or with 
more tender affection. Whatever the meaning of it may 
be, beauty is all about us, enveloping us on every side- 
All our associations are with that which is adapted, in 
degree without end, to give to us delight. 

But what is beauty? Why is it universal in nature? 
How comes it to be infinitely diversified and yet the same ? 
Why is it that we derive pleasure from the sight and con- 
templation of it ? Before these questions can be answered, 
we have to disabuse our minds completely of the conven- 
tional, artificial, and false education respecting this subject 
that we have received. 

All progress in thought is embarrassed by the systems 
and contrivances of men. We are the victims of a mania 
for classification, by means of which all idea of the unity 
of truth is lost. Strong minds map out their imaginary 
schemes. To them and their followers these schemes, 
stand in the place of the truth. Much of what is called 
education consists in the handing down of these devices 
from learner to learner, each generation in turn teaching- 
to the next what it has itself been taught. When origi- 
nality appears, it commonly does so in a new system, more 
artificial than the old. By these means, both the unity of 



230 BE A UTY. 

truth and also the unity of our own spiritual being grow 
continually more obscured, and the mind seems to lose, 
and undoubtedly it does in some degree lose, the power 
to apprehend them. 

Beauty presents a striking instance of this perversity. 
In the last century, a German professor invented the 
aesthetic sense. This discovery supplied a long-felt want. 
In the division of the human mind, no place had been 
made for beauty. The intellectual faculties would have 
nothing to do with it ; it could not be weighed or 
measured, nor made the subject of demonstration. On 
the other hand, ethics had no place for it ; for no idea of 
right or wrong could be affixed to it. The intellect and 
the moral sense were thus defined and limited and occu- 
pied, and beauty was left out in the cold. It was obviously 
necessary, if mankind were to know any thing about 
beauty, that a special faculty should be contrived for the 
purpose. So all men hailed this discovery of the aesthetic 
sense, which was to extricate them from such a serious 
dilemma, just as pagans were wont to hail a new divinity. 
Since then, by common consent, every thing pertaining 
to beauty has been committed to this imaginary separate 
faculty ; just as, in the imagination of men, the winds 
were once committed to the care of ^olus, and the sea to 
the care of Neptune. 

The idea of an aesthetic sense was a natural outgrowth 
of the general tendency to artificial classification. It only 
added another to the existing list of imaginary mental 
faculties. These must all be swept away together. The 
simple truth must be recognized, that the mind is a unit, 
and that what have been conceived as different faculties, 
are only different modes of activity of the same conscious 
spirit, which modes of activity are combined in various 
degrees in every mental operation. There is, in truth, no 



BEAUTY, 231 

result or state that is reached by any mind, whether this 
be a perception, or a conclusion, or an emotion, that is 
not the effect of the cooperation of various modes of our 
spiritual activity, as the occasion calls for their exercise. 
The correct apprehension of any form of truth involves 
the harmonious exercise of many forms of this activity. 
It follows, that in order to be capable of any such appre- 
hension, we need the symmetrical development of every 
potential mode of our spiritual activity. We shall find 
this to be true in an especial degree in the case of beauty. 
Instead of beauty being apprehended by us through a 
medium of its own, which is neither an intellectual faculty 
nor a moral sense, the truth is, that beauty is above all 
things of a nature that demands for its perception or 
recognition the cooperation of every form of activity of 
which our spirits are capable. 

In the last analysis, beauty is found to be one mode of 
expression of the love of God. It is' thus always associ- 
ated with the practical expressions of the same love. Both 
combine to reveal the very heart of the Father. Like 
the love which it expresses, it exists in infinite degree. 
Like that love also it is revealed to us by our recognition 
of it. No mind can perceive beauty in nature in degree 
greater than its own. Only the perfect, or perfectly 
beautiful, spirit can perceive beauty in its full reality, or 
be capable of the perfect joy that its recognition inspires. 

Descending from this contemplation of the very nature 
of beauty, we next find it to be the manifestation of 
excellence. The works of God, in their normal develop- 
ment, are perfect. Beauty is the sign of this practical 
perfection. In those works the mind spontaneously and 
necessarily recognizes that degree of beauty that it itself 
possesses, or that it is capable of perceiving. 



232 BEA [/TV. 

The association of beauty with utiHty is a subject of pro- 
found interest. In nature every thing has its use or its 
multiplied uses. Our observation is sufKciently extensive 
to warrant this general conclusion. More than this, every 
thing in nature is in a state of activity, cooperating in har- 
mony with every thing else for beneficent purposes. This 
also is a well-established conclusion. With this activity, 
and with all these uses, beauty is invariably and intimately 
associated. Indeed, this association is so uniform and so 
intimate, that use and beauty appear to be identical. In 
nature beauty may be defined to be fitness for beneficent 
uses. This is a true and an instructive definition. It is 
in entire harmony with both the definitions which have 
already been given. It indicates the active nature of the 
love which beauty represents, and also the character of 
the mind that is in harmony with this love, or by which it 
can be truly perceived. In the light of this relation be- 
tween utility and beauty, the comprehensive nature of 
beauty, and the fact that its proper apprehension calls for 
the exercise of all modes of our spiritual activity, in the 
fulness of their symmetrical development, will become 
obvious. 

Our proposition then is, that the beauty of any thing in 
nature consists in its fitness for practical beneficent uses. 
This undoubtedly will shock many aesthetic minds. Minds 
accustomed to look up to beauty and to look down upon 
utility will be likely to resent the attempt to bring these 
together in our thought. Such aesthetic sentimentality is, 
however, morbid and false. It is another effect of our 
education, which we need to get rid of. The association 
of utility with beauty is universal in nature. As we have 
seen it to be the nature of divine love to manifest itself in 
all practical modes of expression, so beauty in its reality 
cannot be divorced from practical utility. The mind that 



BEAUTY. 233 

is itself in any degree fitted for beneficent uses feels the 
harmony that exists between itself and such objects in 
nature, and they appear beautiful to it just in that degree. 
The spirit rejoices in the harmony that it feels. 

It is customary to say that, in the harmonies of nature, 
fitness, so far as we have discovered it, is invariably found 
to be associated with beauty. This conclusion has been 
compelled, as the result of all observation. One step fur- 
ther brings us to the necessary reason of this invariable 
association. Both represent the same deep reality. We 
cannot separate them. The longer our minds dwell upon 
their relations, the more absolute their identity appears. 
For us it is strictly true that fitness is beauty. It is 
deeply interesting to trace this identity of beauty in na- 
ture with fitness for beneficent uses, even the little way 
that our limited knowledge of such uses enables us to 
perceive this identity. 

We are able to perceive this fitness in the /arms oi n3.tU' 
ral objects to a much greater extent than in any other 
feature of them, and so it is especially in these forms that 
we perceive the identity of this fitness with beauty. 
For illustration, the outlines of fishes and of birds are lines 
of grace, their forms are beautiful, the observation of them 
gives us pleasure. But these are the outlines and the 
forms that adapt the fishes and the birds for moving most 
easily and most accurately through the water and the air, 
and which are indispensable to these purposes. Their 
movements are also always in graceful and pleasing lines ; 
but the laws of force and motion do not permit these 
movements to be in any other lines, except those which 
are graceful and pleasing. 

So, universally, we admire the proportions and the struct- 
ure of every creation in the animal and the vegetable king- 
doms. Every new observation of them makes a fresh 



234 BEAUTY. 

appeal to our admiration. The sight of every part as well 
as of the whole of every organism gives us pleasure. In 
most cases we are able to perceive that the form and pro- 
portions and structure that we admire are precisely those 
that enable each member of the organism to perform its 
function most perfectly. The foliage of plants, for ex- 
ample, is a crown of beauty. It is also the organ through 
which the plants breathe, where goes on that wonderful 
combination of mineral substances with carbon, which 
seems to be the first stage of the vital operations, that 
result in the growth and development of the plant. 
These all depend upon the extent of leaf surface that 
is presented to the sunlight and the air. The whole 
structure of every^ tree or plant is adapted to effect this 
extended exposure, and to maintain it against the force of 
storms. 

Two things are here to be noted. First, the adaptation 
of animal and vegetable structure or form to practical 
beneficent uses is carried to an extreme of detail that 
\^xy far transcends our powers of observation. Every 
new exploration discloses in these forms uses and adapta- 
tions to uses, that were unknown to us before, and in 
every case the completeness of this adaptation fills our 
minds Avith wonder. The deeper we go, also, the more we 
become impressed with the really superficial character of 
any observations of which we are capable. Secondly, 
the perception of the fitness of any form in nature for its 
use increases its beauty in our eyes, and deepens exceed- 
ingly the pleasure with which we regard it. The percep- 
tion of its useful of^ce is not indeed necessary to our 
recognition of its beauty in a degree, but it is certain 
that when the office of any form, and its wonderful 
adaptation and fitness for this office, are seen, its beauty 
in our sight is greatly enhanced. 



BEAUTY. 235 

We perceive that even with respect to forms in nature, 
our apprehension of their fitness for their uses is extremely 
limited, and is, for the most part, confined to their general 
features. When we pass from forms to the consideration 
of colors, we are obliged to admit that our knowledge of 
the uses of these is very slight indeed. It is to be ob- 
served, however, that while in detail our perception of 
the uses of colors is so greatly inferior to our perception 
of the uses of forms in nature, that, with few exceptions, 
we cannot be said to have any distinct idea of their uses 
at all, still, in a general or comprehensive view we get 
quite as certain a realization of the identity of beauty 
with utility in the case of color. AH glory and all beauty 
of color are contained in light. And of all useful things 
light is, beyond comparison, the most useful. Into the 
infinite details of its universal work and service we have 
no power to penetrate. ^Ve observe, however, in nature 
an inconceivable number of beneficent results, which are 
being everywhere perpetually effected by the agency of 
light, although we cannot see how. There must be con- 
tained in light this multitude of adaptations to beneficent 
uses, that are hidden from us. To doubt, then, the identity 
of beauty with utility in the case of color, because we are 
not able to trace this identity, in the mystery of the action 
of light, while we are literally enveloped in its beneficent 
results, would clearly be absurd. On the contrary, we are 
warranted in concluding, in fact we cannot resist the con- 
clusion, that what we find to be true, so far as our observa- 
tion extends, is true universally, — that not only every form 
but also every color in nature has its beneficent use or mul- 
titude of uses, and that this is the real reason why they 
both appear beautiful in our sight. 

We sometimes observe, too, in the case of color obvious 
instances of the identity of beauty with fitness. For a 



236 , BEAUTY. 

prominent example, green is the general color in the vege- 
table clothing of the earth. It is also the color that is 
most grateful to our organs of sight in their healthy state, 
and which exerts the most healing influence upon these 
organs when they are impaired. This adaptation seems, 
however, to be only an incidental one, the green rays 
being those which are not absorbed by the leaves of plants. 

In this general view, to which, except in rare cases, we 
appear to be limited, the utility of beauty of color seems 
indeed to be capable of proof approaching ver^^ nearly to 
demonstration, as follows : According to the best idea of 
it that we can form, color is only the effect that is pro- 
duced on our minds, through our organs of sight, by the 
vibrations of the supposed luminiferous ether ; just as 
sound is the effect on our minds, produced through our or- 
gans of hearing by the pulsations of the air, each color and 
shade being the effect of a particular rate of vibration. 
What we call colors, however, are these vibrations them- 
selves. Now it is by its vibrations that the luminiferous 
ether produces the infinite variety of its useful effects. 
These vibrations constitute light ; the cessation of them is 
darkness. 

Still objecting to this view, one may ask, what utility is 
to be found in the beauty of sunset or sunrise or rainbow. 
It may be admitted that no utility is discoverable in any 
of these, and still the strength of our position, that beauty 
and utilitv are one and the same thino- in the case of color, 
is not in the least impaired. Light, emanating from the 
sun, fills the entire space of the solar system. But of this 
light, that portion which impinges upon the earth, or 
on all the planets together, is almost inconceivably small. 
Moreover, of that small portion of its light which is radi- 
ated from the sun in the plane of the earth's orbit, those 
beams which are radiated in any given direction, only 



BEAUTY. ' 237 

once in a year, for the space, at the longest, of less than 
eight minutes, exercise their power upon the flying 
earth. Nevertheless, we know that all life, both vegeta- 
ble and animal, as well as all motion on the earth, are de- 
pendent on the light of the sun. It is therefore evident, 
that while in the case of light beauty and utility are one, 
still, for want of an object, the utility only rarely becomes 
effective, but for the most part exists as potential utility. 

It is to be borne in mind, that the preceding observa- 
tions have been made with reference to beauty of form 
and color IN NATURE. In the imitative, or, speaking more 
correctly, the representative, works of man, beauty gives 
us pleasure through the law of association. It suggests 
to us that in nature with which our spirits are in harmony. 
Among the works of man, architecture affords some of 
the most convincing illustrations of the identity of beauty 
with fitness. Architecture is not strictly an imitative art, 
but is one in which in a subordinate sense man is himself 
a creator, and in which he is required to conform his work 
to the harmonies of nature. In architecture it has been 
invariably found, so that it has become an established 
canon of the art, that complete fitness of every part of a 
structure for its use, when this fitness comes to be realized, 
is identical with beauty. 

In the perception of beauty, all the modes of our spirit- 
ual activity, so far as these are called into exercise, must 
harmonize, like the strings of an instrument. As already 
observed, it is not necessary that we should have the 
intellectual apprehension of the fitness of any thing for its 
use, in order that we shall feel the sense of harmony and 
regard the object as beautiful. But if in any case we do 
have this perception of fitness, then this perception must 
be satisfied, or else the object cannot appear beautiful 
to us. 



238 BEAUTY. 

This is a test that, of course, we are able to apply only 
in cases of known unfitness of an object for its use. Such 
cases cannot be found in nature. For examples of such a 
want of fitness, we must look to the works of men. There, 
indeed, unfitness, in some respect or degree, of a construc- 
tion for its use constitutes the rule rather than the ex- 
ception, and offends the mind that has been educated to 
perceive this unfitness. Architecture would afford many 
illustrations in point. We must confine ourselves to one 
of an obvious nature. 

The office of the foundation of any building is to sustain 
the superstructure. This demands solidity and strength. 
These are the essential qualities of a foundation. All its 
features ought to suggest these qualities. Whatever 
would detract from its appropriate solidity and strength, 
or would suggest ideas inconsistent with such solidity and 
strength, is out of place in a foundation. Now we have 
seen ornamental work introduced into a foundation, with 
the obvious effect of weakening it, or at least of convey- 
ing ideas inconsistent with those of solidity and strength. 
In a suitable place those forms might give pleasure, but 
here their incongruity is shocking to the educated mind. 

Machinery, where, as in the case of architecture, man is 
himself the creator, affords admirable illustrations of the 
same truth. Here we are able to see, also, with peculiar 
distinctness, the necessity for harmony through all the 
modes of our spiritual activity, if any thing is to appear 
beautiful to us. The illustrations of these truths that 
may be drawn from machinery possess an especial force 
and value, because here all uses lie within our comprehen- 
sion, even more fully than they do in the case of architect- 
ure; and the fitness of every part of any machine, and of 
the machine as a whole, for its use can be determined 
in a more unmistakable manner. Every machine has its 



BE A UTY. 239 

special use. This use was proposed by its constructor, 
and he has made all the adaptations of the several parts, 
and of the whole, of the mechanism to its accomplish- 
ment, and the degree of success or failure is a matter of 
certain observation. To the instructed mechanical engi- 
neer no mechanical forms or proportions can appear beauti- 
ful, unless a good mechanical reason can be given for 
them. Those forms and proportions are always the most 
graceful and elegant that most completely fulfil mechani- 
cal requirements. We are able to see at once, that the 
pleasure that the builder of any machine can derive from 
the contemplation of his work, all the beauty that it can 
possess in his eyes, depends wholly upon his perception 
of its fitness, or of what he believes to be its fitness, for 
the use for which it was designed. The same is true 
also of any observer who has a knowledge of such uses. 

Now with respect to this fitness, we are in reality 
always in a greater or lesser degree mistaken. Nothing 
perfectly fitted for its use was ever made by man. Still, 
especially in our own work, we cannot see all the imper- 
fections. All will admit, however, that in machine con- 
struction perfection is an ideal that men may always be 
striving after, but can never reach. We may, however, 
observe that, just in the degree that we imagine ourselves 
to have attained a high point of excellence in any mechan- 
ical construction, just in that degree will its forms appear 
beautiful to us. I was once asked by a steam-engine 
builder, as he contemplated his own work with an expres- 
sion of absolute satisfaction and delight : '' Why is not 
that a perfect engine?" My own view was so different, 
that I was quite shocked by the question. Such satis- 
faction designers always feel, so long as they do not know 
any better. But when afterwards, from enlarged knowl- 
edge, probably obtained by that agreeable process known 



240 BEAUTY. 

as experience, we have come to see that our work is in 
fact, in some degree or respect, unsuitable for its purpose, 
all becomes changed. Now we look upon the same forms, 
but their beauty has vanished. The sight of them is no 
longer pleasing. They fail to satisfy our ideal. We can 
no longer pronounce them good. 

In the earlier days of machine construction, before this 
construction became a science, through the study of its 
underlying principles, it was the custom to employ archi- 
tectural forms, these being the forms with which designers 
of machines were already acquainted ; and very beautiful 
these adaptations of classic and Gothic features were 
thought to be. As, however, the unfitness of these forms 
to resist and to transmit mechanical stress, and to per- 
form the various functions which are demanded, came to 
be perceived, and the necessity for entirely new forms, 
designed to meet a new class of requirements, and for 
freedom in such new designs, untrammelled by the attempt 
to retain old forms in any degree, came to be realized, 
how rapidly and how utterly did all the once fancied 
beauty of these forms in such constructions disappear. 

Illustrations of this nature show us also that beauty is 
the expression of all excellence. All modes of our spirit- 
ual activity must harmonize in the song of beauty. Here 
also **good" is a word of comprehensive significance. 
Before we can pronounce this word over any mechanical 
work, whether it be our own, or that of another mind, our 
sense of justice must above all be satisfied. We must 
be conscious in our own case, and must feel assured in 
any other, that the highest fidelity has been exercised. 
No product of the labor and skill, of either ourselves or 
another, can appear beautiful in our sight, unless we feel 
that it is the very best offering that we or they had been 
able to bring. 



BEAUTY. 241 

Reflections of this nature render it obvious that the 
moral quality is fundamental in beauty, as we have seen 
it to be in physical truth. In considering the beauty 
manifested in all the works of God, the spirit of man in 
its unity, going forth in every form of its activity, must 
bow in admiration and wonder before that perfection, the 
varied forms of which are combined to constitute this 
beauty, and which was pronounced by the Infinite Maker 
himself to be " very good." 

We pass now from things to beings. Here a remarka- 
ble correspondence appears. The same qualities charm 
us in both. We cannot distinguish between the feelings 
with which we regard a beautiful landscape and those 
with which we regard a beautiful character. We are awed 
alike by grandeur of scenery and by grandeur of soul. The 
same harmony between ourselves and our ideal is felt in 
each case alike. We perceive at once the duality and the 
unity of the creation. It is true that the false education, 
that would deprive the physical creation of its supreme 
quality in the moral element, would hide this unity from 
our sight. The mind that sees God in his works will, 
however, discover the manifestation of moral excellence 
to be supremely made in the landscape. 

There can be no doubt that the delight with which 
spiritual as well as physical beauty is regarded by us pro- 
ceeds from a similar recognition. But what is it that we so 
spontaneously recognize? What is it that, in each of these 
two classes of objects alike, awakens within us emotions of 
pleasure, proportionate to our capacity for such recognition? 
There must be a reason, in some quality that is common to 
both physical and spiritual beauty, why any created thing 
or being should have power to awaken these pleasing emo- 
tions in our minds, and so should appear to us beautiful. 
This common quality is found in fitness for beneficent uses. 



242 BEAUTY. 

The fact that in a moral being fitness for beneficent 
uses is the quality the recognition of which gives pleasure 
to us, just in the degree that we possess this fitness our- 
selves, is shown quite conclusively, when we consider the 
opposite of this fitness, or fitness for injurious and destruc- 
tive purposes. The latter is the fitness in the contempla- 
tion of which the abnormal or depraved mind rejoices. 
This is the fitness with which such a mind is in harmony. 
This awakens sensations of pleasure in such a nature. 
To it this is what appears beautiful. This was the 
mutual fitness that caused Fagan to be regarded with 
admiration by his pupils in crime. 

Here we have shown to us a law of our nature. We 
derive pleasure from seeing in others our own likeness, or 
our ideal. We feel a harmony existing between ourselves 
and that in another which represents either that which 
we are conscious we are, or that which we would be. 
Toward this, whatever it may be, we are attracted, and 
are repelled from its opposite. The one is contemplated 
by us with delight. The other we regard with aversion. 

So it is always to be observed, that it is only in the 
degree in which the spirit is itself beautiful, fit for benefi- 
cent uses, or in which it feels a longing to become so, that 
it can derive pleasure from the contemplation either of a 
beautiful character, or of the beauties of nature. Other- 
wise the spirit must in a greater or lesser degree be insen- 
sible to natural loveliness, and must regard a lovely char- 
acter with feelings that range from indifference, through 
all degrees of aversion, to hatred, according to the degree 
of antagonism between its own nature and the nature 
that it observes. Perfect beauty of spirit was once seen 
on the earth. It aroused in malignant natures feelings 
that could be satisfied only by its destruction. 

This law also manifests itself in another manner, which. 



BEAUTY. 243 

has already been dwelt upon in a previous paper. This is 
the strong tendency of every mind to see in others its 
own likeness or ideal, whether this be good or bad. 
Whatever character may be presented to us, the image 
that, in advance of evidence or experience, and to a sur- 
prising degree in spite of evidence and experience, we 
form in our minds, and take to represent the reality, is 
our own conscious spiritual likeness. We thus naturally 
expect and assume that others will be governed in their 
conduct by the same motives that we know would 
determine our own ; that under the same circumstances 
they will do that, which we know that we would do our- 
selves. 

On the one hand, the innocent, the generous, the true, 
spontaneously regard all others as being like themselves. 
**To the pure, all things are pure." ''I do not think," 
said Desdemona, *' there is any such woman." It is hard 
to destroy this illusion, and the trust that attends it. 
When these are broken their loss brings grief to the spirit. 

On the other hand, those who are in any respect or 
degree depraved see everywhere in humanity the reflec- 
tion of their own natures. They believe all men to be at 
heart like themselves. All apparent excellence they look 
upon as hyprocrisy. It is not ordinarily possible for one 
who is himself governed by selfish or degrading motives 
to believe that the conduct of any one else can be con- 
trolled by exalted and self-denying principles. 

'' Wisdom and goodness to the vile seem vile." 

*' And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father 
was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and 
will certainly requite us all the evil that we did unto 
him." 

This truth is expressed in the homely proverb, ^' evil 
doers are evil deemers." 



244 B^^ UTY, 

I have ventured here to return to this subject, and dwell 
upon it again, on account of its singular importance in 
this connection. It exhibits the law of all spiritual per- 
ception. It shows the manner in which we recognize all 
spiritual realities. Beauty is wholly spiritual. Beauty in 
nature is the expression of perfection in -the divine con- 
duct. It is the expression of the beauty of the divine 
spirit. Our recognition of the moral quality of beauty, of 
its true nature, is possible only in the degree in which we 
are ourselves in harmony with that nature. Our ability 
to recognize beauty at all, to derive any degree of pleasure 
from its contemplation, whether in nature or in human 
character and conduct, depends wholly upon the fitness of 
our own natures for beneficent uses, in the development 
of their lovely capabilities. We can see without only 
that which we feel, and which we are, within. For the 
perception of beauty, whether seen in the conduct of God 
or in the conduct of men, whether revealing the infinite 
love of God, or the development of the same love in the 
human soul, whatsoever is just, whatsoever is pure, what- 
soever is true, whatsoever is lovely, in our own natures, 
must cooperate.^ 

We now look again upon the physical creation as our 
educator. We behold also the ministry of beauty. We 
get a completer sense of the great use of all the harmonious 
influences by which we are surrounded. We see still more 
clearly the supreme beneficent purpose which these are 
adapted to promote. By all means, in cooperative and 
ceaseless activity, the nature of man is to be transformed. 
For this purpose, who can measure the influence of our 
environment of beauty? 

The primary end of beauty, in its infinite manifestation 

^ This is universally recognized in the case of poetry. We derive pleasure 
from poetry just in the degree that we recognize in it the expression of our 
own feelings. If it does not express such feelings, it is meaningless to us. 



BEAUTY, 245 

in nature, is not to give delight to the spirit of man. This 
delight is indeed necessary, just in the degree in which 
the human spirit is in harmony with beauty. But prece- 
dent to this, beauty has an office to perform. In its 
omnipresence and its infinity it has a work to do. This 
office, this work, is, to aid, gradually, insensibly, in bring- 
ing the nature of man into harmony with all perfection, 
into fitness for its own highest use. In beauty we have 
another spiritual reality, another manifestation of the 
Infinite Being, of whom it is written that '^ strength and 
beauty are in His sanctuary," a term by which the uni- 
verse is understood to be meant, and another means by 
the influence of which man shall ultimately be made a 
partaker of the nature of God. 

We have now seen the cooperation in this supreme 
beneficent work, of force, truth, beauty, and love in the 
infinite variety of their physical manifestations. But for 
this work all these influences are not sufficient. The task 
is too great. More, very much more, is needed even than 
these. Nothing can be more obvious than is this fact. 
Man in his natural state is dead to all these influences. 
Some additional influence is needed. He can be quick- 
ened from a state of spiritual insensibility only by some 
transforming agency, that shall reach to the very springs 
of his spiritual being, and cause the dry bones to live. 

Not seeking to penetrate to that mystery, the work of 
God's spirit, but limiting our view to the obvious means 
which are employed, we find this finally efficient agency 
in suffering. 



SUFFERING. 



With a feeling of awe, I approach the deep problems 
of humanity. What has mechanical science to do with 
these? Much every way. This is the science which gives 
to nature its true interpretation. The revelations which 
are made to man through the methods of mechanical 
science rise by insensible gradations from those which are 
individual and particular up to those which are most 
grand and comprehensive. This science furnishes the 
guiding principles, by following which we are able to 
penetrate deeper and deeper into the causes of phenome- 
na, until causes assume definite forms in our minds as mo- 
tives ; and, finally, the mind which has within itself the abili- 
ty to see that which is everywhere before it reaches the 
ultimate truth — that infinite and unchangeable love consti- 
tutes the primary law of nature, the supreme motive to 
the conduct of God. This love must supremely delight 
in the moral excellence of the moral beings whom it has 
created, and must employ all means to secure the attain- 
ment by them of this excellence, until this end is accom- 
plished. Some of the modes of manifestation of this 
love, and their cooperation for this purpose, have been 
considered. One remains which transcends all others. 

The guiding principles of thought above referred to, 
and which may be considered to have been ascertained, 
either directly, or by necessary deduction, through the 

246 



SUFFERING. 247 

methods of mechanical science, have already been before 
us. It is desirable that these should be brought together 
here, in a general view. They may be summed up as 
follows : 

First. The uniformity of the Divine conduct, and the 
eternal changelessness of the Divine purposes. 

Second. The certainty of the accomplishment of all 
the purposes of God. 

Third. The gradual manner, often nearly or quite in- 
sensible, in which the eternal purposes of God move 
onward to their accomplishment. 

Fourth. Every Divine purpose, small as well as great, 
requires the cooperation of many and diverse agencies. 

Fifth. All suitable agencies are uniformly observed to 
be in perpetual and harmonious activity, accomplishing 
every purpose of God. 

Through all these purposes, as they are disclosed in 
nature, we have seen that there runs a unity. There is 
obviously only one ultimate purpose, which constitutes a 
final end in itself. Every subordinate purpose in its own 
accomplishment becomes a means for the accomplishment 
of a larger purpose. These purposes have been traced 
step by step, until we have found the supreme end, in 
the re-creation of man in the spiritual image of God. 
This end the combined influence of every agency is cease- 
lessly exerted to effect. But these influences are all 
spiritual and gentle. Man, in his natural debasement and 
insensibility and ferocity, cannot be affected by them, can 
know nothing about them. By some means he must be 
made alive to these influences, as well as to the purely 
spiritual manifestations of the same infinite love. 

If one can read both aright — has the spirit for the per- 
ception of their harmony — it is delightful to dwell upon 
the supreme illustration which is afforded here of the 



248 SUFFERING. 

identity of the physical and the verbal modes of revela- 
tion. The Bible, equally with nature, makes the love of 
God to man its supreme message, and declares the neces- 
sary expression of this love. In its own wonderful lan- 
guage, language such as no man not directly inspired 
could have conceived, and language which every human 
being may equally appropriate, as addressed directly 
to himself, it declares the purpose of God to be, that 
every man shall become a partaker of the Divine 
nature," '' a partaker of His holiness." This is the final 
end of all the conduct of God, as manifested in nature and 
in the Bible. Every influence in nature, however insufifi- 
cient these alone maybe, however insensible mankind may 
be to them, is ceaselessly exerted, to the full extent of its 
efficiency, to bring man into harmony with God. This is 
also the single declared purpose of the teaching of the 
Christ, and the motive to His death. This is the single 
object of that infinite mystery, the incarnation and the 
suffering of the Son of God. They who penetrate most 
deeply into either nature or the Bible, come at last in 
both to the same animating force or motive — infinite, 
universal, and changeless love. 

To our limited vision humanity presents a confused 
scene ; — joy and sorrow, happiness and suffering, in their 
endless forms and degrees, estrangement of nature from 
God more or less entire, restoration to His image more or 
less incomplete ; all being continually, and in every 
different stage of their development, removed from our 
further observation by death. This scene and this ex- 
perience raise in every mind questions, to which each one, 
according to the degree of its earnestness and of its doubt, 
craves an answer. 

The complete answer to all these questions is given in 
the Bible. This revelation shows how, amid every form 



SUFFERING. 249 

of privation and suffering, every human being may, even 
in this present life, attain to perfect happiness, to exultant 
and triumphant joy, and the peace which passeth all 
understanding. The Bible declares happiness to consist 
in the union of the soul with God, and suffering itself to 
be the supreme means by which this union is to be 
effected. Suffering in all its forms is thus presented to us 
as the ultimate and efficient agency by which this eternal 
purpose of God is to be accomplished, and thus as the 
supreme manifestation or expression of His love. This 
is the express teaching of the Bible. Attention is called 
to other considerations which prove this teaching to be 
true. 

No other change ought to interest the philosophic mind 
so deeply as this change in the spiritual nature of man. 
It is not a change of will, but a change of that which 
gives to will, purpose, resolve, and all activity, their direc- 
tion. It is not a change of belief, except as new beliefs, 
or rather new intuitive perceptions and recognitions, 
follow necessarily from the change of disposition or 
character. It is a change of the most radical nature. It is 
eminently a practical change, or a change which must 
manfest itself in corresponding change of conduct. It 
reaches all the springs of human activity. It is a trans- 
formation of man, from a being wholly false to a being 
wholly true ; from a being wholly selfish to a being wholly 
self-sacrificing ; from a being wholly vindictive to a being 
wholly forgiving ; from a being wholly hateful to a being 
wholly lovely ; — in short, from a being in a state of com- 
plete antagonism to the nature of God to a being in a 
state of complete harmony with that nature, a partaker of 
it. It is a change so total, that it could be expressed by 
the Christ only under the tremendous figure of being born 
again. Like all the operations of God, this change is 



250 SUFFERING. 

gradual in the individual and in the race. We observe 
this change in its progress, and are ourselves the subjects 
of it. All human beings are in one degree or another 
affected by it. Probably none remain absolutely in the 
former state, as through the endless progress of eternity 
none can attain to the infinite holiness of the latter. 
Every one is familiar with natures in which such a trans- 
formation is not conceivable by us, but there can be no 
exception or failure in the purposes of God. 

All the analogies of nature compel to these conclusions: 
First, a change so prodigious can be effected only by 
strong agencies, acting in many cases through long periods 
of time ; second, if this is the purpose of God with respect 
to one human being, then it must be equally his purpose 
with respect to ever}'" human being ; and third, this purpose 
must in every case be finally accomplished. 

We recognize suffering as the supreme natural agency 
employed in effecting this purpose ; we perceive its adap- 
tation to this use suf^ciently to enable us to form such 
recognition. But the philosophic mind sees in the mere 
fact of the existence of suffering abundant evidence that 
it must have been adapted and intended for this use, 
which all things are designed to accomplish. Suffering 
cannot form an exception. Suffering cannot lie outside 
the universal unity. Looking at human suffering from an 
a priori ^oint of view, we are obliged to say that this must be 
reconcilable with the infinite and changeless love of God. 
The same motive must determine the infliction of suffer- 
ing that determines all the other conduct of God. Suffer- 
ing must be a mode of expression of His love. More than 
this, it must be the mode of expression of His love which 
is the necessary mode under the the conditions which 
exist. No other supposition is conceivable by a mind 
which is capable of reasoning. We may be dumb in the 



SUFFERING. 25 1 

presence of overwhelming trial, but we cannot doubt the 
uniform action of the infinite love of God. 

With this necessary conclusion all human experience 
agrees. Mankind have received all their temporal bless- 
ings as the result of the sufferings of others, and have 
been made capable of receiving these benefits by suffer- 
ings endured either by themselves or by those from whom 
they have inherited their dispositions. Vicarious suffering 
involves deep mysteries. The relations which give to it its 
efificacy are only dimly perceived by us. But we know 
that the entire inheritance of civilized man has been pur- 
chased by the suffering and death of those who have gone 
before us. There is no possession that men to-day cherish 
and hold precious which has not been purchased for them 
with this price. In the fundamental principles of civilized 
society, in individual freedom and protection, in every 
temporal good, as well as in the capacity of mankind to 
appreciate and enjoy these benefits, we behold the fruit of 
the sufferings which preceding generations have endured. 
Luxury and splendor have left us nothing which can 
operate as a present personal boon to mankind, abso- 
lutely nothing. For all these things we are indebted 
to the sufferers who have lived and died for those who 
were to follow them. Among these, too, we find the ex- 
amples of every virtue that we instinctively revere, and of 
that conduct which it is the noblest inspiration of human- 
ity to emulate. 

We turn again to the Bible. No mind can fail to be 
deeply impressed by the fact there recorded, how, in con- 
formity with the law that all blessings must be purchased 
for man by suffering, the Saviour of men, expected as a 
conqueror, came a man of sorrows, and obtained for our 
race its supreme blessing by His death. 

The Bible teaches further, as has already been observed, 



252 SUFFERING. 

that personal suffering is the means by which men are 
made willing to receive, or by which they become capable 
of receiving, in degree without end, the boon of the new 
nature which has been purchased for them. It declares 
that the punishment of sin, its natural and unavoidable 
consequences, in every form of suffering, are themselves 
the means by which the sinful disposition is to be de- 
stroyed, by which the defiant spirit is to be broken down. 
Thus sin is made to work its own cure. In the parable of 
the prodigal son it was the starvation consequent on his 
own excesses that drove the prodigal back to his Father's 
open arms. So also all growth in spiritual life, every step 
of approach to the nature of God, is declared to be the 
effect of suffering. " Perfect through suffering," heard 
through the Bible as its grand undertone, swells at last 
into the overpowering note in which all the harmonies of 
revelation become absorbed. 

Here again we have the confirmation of human experi- 
ence. There is no one who has attained to any degree of 
true beauty of soul, of loving harmony with God, who 
does not recognize suffering as having been the principal 
means by which this change of nature has been effected. 
There is no teacher of spiritual truth who has not learned 
that suffering is the best, indeed obviously in many cases 
the necessary, preparative for its reception. 

Suffering thus appears, by all testimony, and viewed in 
every light, as the great remedial agency. It becomes im- 
possible to conceive of it as constituting an end in itself, 
as forming a single exception to the universal relation 
of things to a single end. It is clear that the death of 
the Christ presents a case in which suffering was not an 
end in itself. But in this respect this is necessarily the 
type of all suffering. If there is a single case in which it 
is certain that suffering was wholly a means by which 



sufferhsfg. 253 

God accomplishes his remedial purpose, then suffering 
must be such means in every case, or the universe must 
cease to be. 

The teaching of the Bible, that suffering is the means by 
which mankind are made capable of receiving the gift of 
eternal life, or of the Divine nature, is the belief of the 
whole Christian church, up to a certain point. Up to the 
end of this present life, suffering is recognized by all 
Christians as not constituting an end in itself, but as 
the crowning evidence of the love and faithfulness of 
God, the means by which he humbles the rebellious and 
defiant spirit of man, and brings him into submission to 
and reconciliation with himself. But it is conceived that 
at the instant of death all this is changed, that the soul 
which passes this point unreconciled to God never can 
be reconciled to him. What is termed the orthodox be- 
lief is, that at death suffering ceases to be remedial in its 
nature, that it no longer operates as a means for the 
attainment of the infinite good, but becomes thenceforth 
an end in inself. The disposition of God toward the in- 
dividual is now reversed. Through all eternity he is to 
him a God of wrath and vengeance. 

The doctrine of eternal punishment is not contained 
in the Apostles' Creed. Of all the views of Christianity 
which have come down to us, the most spiritual, and, 
therefore, presumably, the most correct, is that which was 
taught by Clement of Alexandria, about the end of the 
second century, being rather a development of the gospel 
and epistles of John. He taught, in a manner that leads 
to the belief that this was the received doctrine of the 
Eastern churches, that the work of Christ was continued 
equally after death. In the Roman Church, however, 
the eternal punishment of unbelievers seems to have been 
a prominent doctrine from the earliest times. In these 



254 SUFFERING. 

opposite views we see the philosophic mind of the Greeks, 
and the very different dispositions of the Romans, not 
capable of being disturbed by any thing so unsubstantial 
as philosophy, but whose minds habitually dwelt upon law, 
justice, and punishment. The Athanasian Creed, so-called, 
which originated in the west of Europe, certainly a century 
after the death of Athanasius, declares who shall without 
doubt perish everlastingly ; not those who give no meat to 
the hungry or drink to the thirsty or clothing to the naked, 
but those who refuse assent to every syllable of that creed. 
The doctrine of everlasting fire became, what it still con- 
tinues to be, the fundamental feature of that stupendous 
spiritual despotism, the power of the keys. It was associ- 
ated with the imagined duty, often fearfully exercised, of 
destroying unbelievers in this world. It is to be observed 
that the despotism is certainly quite as well supported as 
the doctrine, by a literal rendering of the words of the 
Christ. The Reformation Left this doctrine untouched. 
The dispositions of men did not then regard this belief 
with the least aversion. Eternal damnation seemed to 
the Protestant as appropriate for the unbeliever, as it 
seemed to the Romanist for the heretic. The amazing 
influence of what is called education, which in this, as 
in so many other cases, consists in handing down and 
rooting into the mind the errors of ruder ages, keeps 
this belief alive, against the revolt of humanity and the 
demonstration of philosophy. 

Respecting the attitude of God to man at the instant 
of death, there are three possible conceptions consistent 
with the doctrine of eternal punishment. Of these, the 
first is, that the purpose of God, to re-create in his own 
spiritual image a soul in which this work had not yet 
been effected, is then abandoned. The second is, that 



SUFFERING. 255 

God had no purpose respecting such a soul. The third, 
which is known as Calvinism, is, that God had from all 
eternity a purpose respecting each individual of our race ; 
that this eternal purpose must necessarily be accom- 
plished, and that the end reveals what this purpose was, 
which is fulfilled in the eternal life, or in the eternal death, 
of each soul ; that the enormously greater proportion 
of mankind are the victims of that purpose, which from all 
eternity had consigned them to eternal suffering ; that '' of 
his mere good pleasure," God elected some, including, of 
course, the believers in this doctrine, to everlasting life ; 
and that for these alone, the elect, Christ died. 

Calvinism was the natural product of a barbarous age, 
when men regarded the sufferings of their fellow-beings 
with little concern ; when for centuries every Baron in 
Europe had been a freebooter, and the Church was the 
only sanctuary where they who had no protector could 
be safe ; when even in England the theft of an article ex- 
ceeding in value one shilling was punished with death, 
and when the natural impulse of all religious zealots, to 
destroy those who differed from them in belief, mani- 
fested itself whenever they possessed the power. 

Above all, the knowledge of the uniformity of the con- 
duct of God, of the universal and changeless character of 
His motives and purposes, which has been revealed to us, 
was not then possessed, in even the least degree. Nature, 
with its priceless lessons, was as yet a sealed book. So 
the philosophic mind did not exist, that could perceive 
the absurdity of the Calvinistic position. No one was 
able to affirm the impossibility of an exception to the love 
of God. No one could then have any idea of the demon- 
stration, declared through all nature, that the Divine love 
must of necessity be equal toward every moral being. 

So Calvinists saw nothing incredible in their monstrous 



256 SUFFERING. 

doctrine. They saw clearly enough that no purpose of 
God could ever be changed, that nothing could transpire 
except in fulfilment of His eternal purpose, and that the 
redemption obtained by the death of the Christ must be 
effectual to the full extent for which it was intended. 
But they could not comprehend the universal nature of 
the love of God. Indeed, their disposition was to make 
this love quite an exceptional thing, and to confine its 
•operation within exceedingly narrow limits. 

Calvinists agreed with the Roman Church, and with 
Mohammedanism, in arresting thought at the will. They 
looked within themselves for the criterion of truth. They 
imagined just such a God as one of themselves would be, 
if only he possessed the power. Their imaginary God 
liad merely to execute his sovereign will and vindicate 
his glory, and this he was supposed to do, just as any 
earthly conqueror then would do, by rewarding his friends 
and punishing his enemies, to the extent of his ability, 
and both with the same complacency. 

The logic of Calvinism was impregnable. " Unbelievers 
are at death condemned to endless punishment. All 
things must transpire in fulfilment of the eternal purpose 
of God. Therefore, it was the eternal purpose of God 
that unbelievers should be so condemned." This syllo- 
gism was so agreeable to their own sense of justice, that 
Calvinists failed to see, what has been so often pointed 
out, that it presents a perfect example of the reductio ad 
absurdiLvi, in which the falsity of the premise is disclosed 
by the absurdity of the conclusion. 

Arminianism is the wild protest of humanity against 
this terrible logic. But Arminianism accepts the doctrine 
of eternal punishment, and so its protest is vain. The 
eternal foreordination of whatsoever comes to pass is in- 
volved in the conception of an Infinite Being. The Stoics 



SUFFERING. 25/ 

recognized this truth. " Out of the universe from the 
beginning," writes the Emperor Marcus Aurelius, " every- 
thing which happens has been appointed and spun out 
to thee." Thus far the doctrine of fataHsm must be 
accepted. The error of fataHsm is on the human side. 
It is only when fataHsm denies the freedom of the wiU, 
or the necessity of human effort, that it becomes false. 
The chains of Calvinism were strongly forged. The 
heart of humanity has swelled through its links, and 
blossomed into songs of love divine. But these links can 
be broken only by the recognition of the truth of the 
universal, and the changeless nature of the love of God. 

Here mechanical science appears, to shed a new light 
upon the world and upon the pages of the verbal revela- 
tion. It shows to us the love of God as the primary law 
of nature, and so, like all the subordinate laws of nature, 
which are modes of its manifestation, uniform in its 
operation. It enables us to afifirm, that if love determines 
the conduct of God toward a single individual to-day, it 
must determine His conduct toward every individual for 
ever. If the Christ died to redeem one soul, then He 
died to redeem every soul. If the re-creation of one soul 
in His own spiritual image is the purpose of God, then 
this purpose extends to the whole race of man, and all 
the means employed for effecting this purpose must con- 
tinue their cooperative activity until it is accomplished. 
The universe rests upon the eternal uniformity of the 
conduct and motives of God. 

When this great truth is admitted, difBculties disappear 
which otherwise are insurmountable. The best that be- 
lievers in the doctrine of eternal punishment can do is to 
shut their eyes to them. We see individuals continually 
passing away from the earthly stage of being, at every 
age, and with every conceivable variety of character and 



258 SUFFERING. 

disposition, of inherited nature, of education and of op- 
portunity. The doctrine of eternal punishment draws a 
hard and fast line, separating mankind at death into two 
classes. The Roman Church makes one of these classes 
to consist of those who have been baptized, and if of 
responsible age have acknowledged the Pope as the 
vicegerent of God, and had their sins forgiven by a priest. 
The Protestant church make this class to consist of all 
who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. These are exalted 
to infinite and eternal joy. The rest of mankind are con- 
demned to everlasting woe. At what point does an infant 
become responsible ? Why are the heathen condemned, 
whom no priest ever appeared to baptize, and who never 
heard of the Christ ? How is the question of responsi- 
bility for inherited viciousness to be met ? At what point 
is any one to meet or to fall short of the only test that 
was ever laid down by the Christ : '' I was hungry, and ye 
gave me meat " ? Obviously mankind cannot be sepa- 
rated at death into these two classes. The whole course 
of nature is at war with such a doctrine. On any calm 
consideration of it, death is seen to be an incident occur- 
ring indifferently at all stages of an uncompleted process. 
The only conception that avoids all difHculties is the one 
which accords w^ith the demonstrated truth, that the eter- 
nal and changeless love of God will after death continue 
to operate upon every soul according to its needs, and 
will bring it sooner or later into the state of everlasting 
joy, which consists in participation in the Divine nature. 

This truth will be denounced by many Christians, as 
opposed to the plain teaching of the Bible. Such denun- 
ciation is readily shown to be unfounded. Men always 
have had, and they always must have, some general prin- 
ciple of interpretation, which consciously or unconsciously 
they follow in the study of the Bible. These principles 



SUFFERING. 259 

have been fixed in their minds generally as the result of 
their education. They differ very widely from each other. 
Those, for example, which are inculcated in the Roman 
Church lead their scholars to attach supreme importance 
to passages which Protestants disregard entirely, and vice 
versa. Now it is a remarkable fact, that mechanical sci- 
ence furnishes the only principles of interpretation of the 
Bible, as well as the only conception of the nature of God, 
which men have not drawn from human analogies, which 
they have not looked for within themselves, and found in 
contemplating their own dispositions. The protest of 
God, '^ Thou thoughtest that I was altogether as thyself," 
^' My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your 
ways my ways, for as the heavens are higher than the 
earth so are my ways higher than your ways, and my 
thoughts than your thoughts," fell upon dead ears. 

In fact, until the study of the truth and love of God, 
and the changeless nature of the Divine purposes and con- 
duct, as revealed in nature, had made sufficient progress to 
furnish true guiding principles to the study of the verbal 
revelation, men were necessarily shut up to themselves. 
Reference has already been made to the very serious dis- 
advantages in this respect under which those men labored 
who in various ages have assumed to formulate creeds, 
which have been handed down to us, and have been made 
in a large degree to take the place of the Bible. What 
could they know of the infinite meaning contained in the 
words, '' I am the Lord, I change not ! " How could 
they help limiting, as far as possible, language so utterly 
beyond their comprehension as this : *' I have sworn by 
myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteous- 
ness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee 
shall bow, every tongue shall swear." 

It does seem strange, though, that they could so com- 



26o SUFFERING. 

pletely overlook the comprehensiveness of the cry of John r 
'' Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of 
the world." In their endlessly refined speculations, con- 
cerning God and man, and their relations, it is to be 
observed that they paid but little regard to any thing 
beyond the will. Their entire conceptions were limited 
also by an exclusive disposition, which they had uncon- 
sciously copied from the Jews. The revelation of the in- 
finite and uniform love of God has indeed been needed. 

Attention is earnestly called to the fact, that *the Bible 
has been interpreted under the influence of fixed ideas of 
a narrow and earthly nature, which humanity and science 
are showing to be unfounded, and not only in ignorance 
of, but without the capacity to receive, the sublime truths 
which form the guide to its correct understanding. Under 
these limiting conditions, it was a matter of necessity for 
our ancestors to pass by, as beyond their comprehension, 
those expressions which present eternal truth in its ever- 
lasting form, and to fix their attention instead on those 
expressions in which the truth is adapted to the reception 
of ignorant minds, to read figurative language literally, 
and to find interpretations which were within their com- 
prehension, and would conform to their habits of thought. 

They read, for example, the absolute declaration of the 
supreme truth, with which the whole creation is vocal, 
" God is love." It made the same impression on their 
minds that the statement of any thing beyond its compre- 
hension makes on the mind of a child. They read : " God 
so loved the world," and, horribile' dictu, instead of this 
they could write and teach : *' God, having out of his mere 
good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlast- 
ing life, did enter into a covenant of grace with them.'* 
They read : "■ For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
shall all be made alive." This of course could not be so. 



SUFFERING. 26 1 

St. Paul never could have meant that. So after the word 
** all," in the last clause, Romanists understand " the bap- 
tized," Calvinists understand '' the elect," and Arminians 
understand " believers in this life," to be inserted. Mean- 
time there stands the invitation, which in the nature 
of things must be without end, "whosoever will, let him 
come." 

But, it will still be demanded by the Calvinists, are not 
the doctrines of election and of eternal punishment ab- 
solutely taught in the Bible ? No, a thousand times, no. 
The early believers in Christ were the elect, in the same 
sense in which the Jews were the chosen people of God, 
and for a similar high purpose ; that as through the Jews 
the knowledge and worship of God had been preserved 
on the earth, and a Saviour had been given to men, so 
through the first believers in Christ the glad tidings of 
His redeeming work should be carried into all the world, 
and proclaimed to every creature. To give to the term 
*' the elect " any further force than this is wholly gratui- 
tous and unwarranted, and is opposed to established 
canons of interpretation and construction. It was na- 
tural that the Christians, especially the Roman Christians, 
who were mostly slaves, should be forcibly reminded by 
their teachers of their exalted condition. What else 
could kindle their enthusiasm as would the declaration 
of the fact, that before time began they had been or- 
dained to a glory that would only have had its com- 
mencement when time should end ! But what warrant 
does this afford for the doctrine, at which all nature 
shudders, that Christ died only for the elect ? 

So with the doctrine of eternal punishment. It is clear 
that all the words of the Christ are to be considered 
together. Many of his figurative expressions and para- 
bles have been distorted in their interpretation, to make 



262 SUFFERING. 

them sustain this doctrine. When this doctrine has been 
abandoned, the true meaning of these passages will ap- 
pear. The latter part of the twenty-fifth chapter of St. 
Matthew is mainly relied upon to sustain the doctrine of 
eternal punishment. Now it is a singular fact, that there 
is not a Christian church of any name which employs the 
test there given by the Christ. Advocates of eternal 
punishment take the startling imagery of that wonderful 
description, and give to it a literal meaning, because it 
thus answers their purpose, and there they stop. We 
have lately seen the difficulty the Protestants have had 
in reviving this neglected test for the benefit of Sir Moses 
Montefiore. Romanists had no trouble about him. They 
would have burned him here if they could. ^ 

All the tremendous figures of speech employed by the 
Christ are abundantly satisfied by the suffering through 
which alone it is possible for hardened and depraved 
natures after death to become changed into the image of 
infinite love. 

On the other hand, there stand two declarations of the 
Christ, which are hopelessly irreconcilable with the doc- 
trine of eternal punishment. The first of these is : " He 
that knew not, and did things worthy of stripes, shall be 
beaten with few." The Calvinists were nothing if not 
logical. What could have blinded their eyes to the 
meaning of this passage ? How was it that they did 
not perceive that, if a single sinner was to be beaten 
with few stripes, the whole doctrine of endless punish- 
ment must fall to the ground ? 

The second declaration is, if possible, still more conclu- 
sive : *' Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it 
shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in 

^ Our ears are tingling yet from the out and out defence of the Inquisition, 
to which Monseigneur Capel has lately compelled us to listen. 



SUFFERING. 263 

the world to come." Here a single possible exception is 
declared to forgiveness in the world to come. It is an 
impressive fact that, amid all forms of blasphemy among 
men, blasphemy against the Holy Ghost is never heard. 
St. Peter, claimed to be the head of the Roman 
Church, did not himself believe the doctrine of eternal 
punishment, for he writes that Christ " went and preached 
to the spirits in prison." 

It is remarkable that the revelations of science should 
carry us back to the truth as taught by the earliest unin- 
spired teacher whose writings have come down to us, 
Clement of Alexandria. He taught the Divine immanence 
in its deep and spiritual reality, — in a sense in which the 
Church has almost ever since been, and still is, dead to this 
most profound and most precious of all truths. He taught, 
moreover, that '' we can set no limits to the agency of 
the Redeemer ; to redeem, to rescue, to discipline is His 
work, and so will He continue to operate after this life." ^ 

^ Stromata, vi., ch. 6. 



FAITH. 



We have now arrived at the soHd ground of faith, in the 
perception and acceptance of the subHme truth, of the in- 
finite and universal love of God, and the recognition of 
the modes of its uniform and ceaseless activity. As re- 
vealed in nature, the love of God is without limit, or pref- 
erence, or change. From the impressive teachings of me- 
chanical science we derive all our knowledge and form all 
our conceptions of the changeless nature of the Divine 
conduct. In unvarying uniformity of action, this science 
discloses a fundamental law, which we at once see must 
be common both to the physical and the spiritual worlds; 
or, in other words, must determine all the conduct of God. 
The importance of the service thus rendered by mechani- 
cal science cannot be adequately realized. A God who 
was not seen to be " without variableness," upon whose 
brightness the possibility of turning could cast a shadow, 
such an imaginary God could not be the object or the in- 
spirer of faith. As observed in the preceding paper, the 
whole Bible must be read in the light of this revelation. 

We must not overlook here a fact, which has already 
been alluded to, and of which we have now a prominent 
example before us, and that is, the pervasive nature of 
mechanical science. Upon this greatest of all subjects, 
the Divine nature and conduct, this science is undoubt- 
edly at the present day contributing most largely to 

264 



FAITH. 265 

emancipate the human mind from bondage to tradition- 
ary authority, and to form correct methods of thought, 
even when men are entirely unconscious of the influence 
to which they are indebted. 

The reception of these truths, of the universal and the 
unvarying nature of the love of God, seems to have been, 
and even yet to be, the most difficult of all things for 
mankind to become capable of. It involves a radical 
change in the dispositions of men, a change that appa- 
rently could be effected only in a manner almost incon- 
ceivably gradual. This change, not less in its nature 
than in the long period required for its accomplishment, 
suggests the process in operation through geologic time, 
by which the void world of fire and rock became trans- 
formed into the fertile earth clad in verdure and teeming 
with life, and the darkness produced by the boiling and 
down-pour of oceans gave place to the glory of the re- 
vealed heavens and the changing beauty of the skies. 

The small portion of the human family, in whose minds, 
as the result of a long series of teachings and judgments, 
the truth of one personal unseen God had finally become 
fixed, secure against the assaults of idolatry, held, with 
a degree of fanaticism now difficult to be imagined, to the 
belief that this God was theirs alone, to the exclusion of 
the rest of mankind. The numerous distinct declarations 
to the contrary in their own sacred writings had no power 
to shake this conceit. The first recorded teaching of the 
Christ was directed against it. This teaching consisted 
only in the recital of two familiar events in the Jewish, 
history. But, for the very reason that the obvious deduc- 
tion from these events, that the love of God extended 
equally to the Gentiles, could not be avoided, the refer- 
ence to them by the Christ exasperated His hearers to 
such a frenzy, that they dragged Him to the brow of the 



266 FAITH. 

hill on which their city was built, to cast Him down head- 
long. 

In its inception, the Christian Church was composed al- 
most entirely of Jews. The converts to Christianity gave 
up their dream of the temporal dominion of their race, and 
accepted the Christ as a King whose kingdom was not of 
this world ; but that the good tidings of great joy should 
be to all people, that was more than Jewish jealousy could 
endure. So, as the gospel spread among the Gentiles, the 
Jews became united in rejecting it. Since then they have 
listened, in their synagogues every Sabbath day, to the 
reading of the Scriptures, in which are contained such ex- 
pressions as this : " It is a light thing that thou shouldest 
be my servant, to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to re- 
store the preserved of Israel ; I will also give thee for a 
light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation 
unto the end of the earth " ; and they have waited, all the 
same, through nineteen centuries, and are waiting still, for 
their exclusive Messiah, who shall restore the kingdom to 
Israel. 

The taming of human ferocity, and the weakening of 
the spirit of exclusiveness, neither of which were by any 
means confined to the Jewish race, have advanced by such 
gradual steps, that their progress can be observed only by 
comparing the states of society at periods separated by 
long intervals of time ; and often it has seemed as if hu- 
manity had actually retrograded. In the belief of the 
Church of the middle ages the unbaptized came to take 
the place, that in the Jewish mind was held by the uncir- 
cumcised, of the hated of God. So lately as the sixteenth 
century, William of Orange was, perhaps, the only man in 
Europe, who seemed to realize that it was not the duty of 
the dominant religious sect, whatever that sect might be, 
to use its power for the punishment of disbelievers in its 



FAITH. 267 

creed. The best of men have in their turns exercised the 
very intolerance against which their own Hves were a pro- 
test. They knew not what manner of spirit they were of. 
But it was tlie spirit of their age. This fact ought to be 
taken into consideration in judging of their conduct. We 
have no right to arraign them for having fallen short of 
our standard. Future generations will have quite as much 
reason to arraign us for having fallen short of theirs. 

Respecting the present development of Christianity, the 
following thoughts are suggested : First, confining our 
view to the Protestant Church, we observe that, while in- 
tolerance seems to have pretty nearly expired, the spirit 
of exclusiveness still survives. We recognize the same old 
exclusive disposition in modified forms of expression, al- 
though it is evident that this disposition also is feeling 
largely the influence of more enlightened thought. 

This exclusive disposition appears, not merely in secta- 
rianism, but in the childish refusal of great bodies of Chris- 
tians to commune with one another, which is harmless 
enough, but for the spirit that it perpetuates, and the un- 
christian exhibition that it makes. This disposition ap- 
pears, feeble and ludicrous, in '' the uncovenanted mercies " 
which used, more commonly than they now are, to be 
vouchsafed by the charity of the churchmen to those out- 
side their fold. It appears in a much more serious form 
among those who still retain the Calvinistic doctrine of a 
limited atonement, and insist upon giving an utter perver- 
sion of meaning to the doctrine of election. This fearful 
interpretation of Scripture we have already seen to have 
been more grateful to the age from which it has been 
inherited than it is to ours. In the repetition by '' the 
elect," in ancient and more especially in modern times, of 
the absurd conceit of the Jews, we have exhibited the ten- 
dency of poor human nature to manifest the same weak- 



268 FAITH. 

ness under similar conditions. A careful reading of the 
Bible will show that similar narrow and literal interpreta- 
tions afford incomparably stronger ground for the pre- 
tensions of the Jews. 

When we turn to the Roman Church, common sense, to 
say nothing of humanity, stands aghast at hearing eternal 
damnation denounced against whomsoever may dare, not 
only to deny the spiritual supremacy of the Pope, but 
also to oppose his claims to any temporal possession, and 
even to resist the despotism of a parish priest. How long, 
O Lord, must the earth continue to witness this awful 
farce ! As if the God whose nature we are feebly endeavor- 
ing to contemplate could have committed the eternal state 
of a single soul to the caprice of vindictive men. This 
usurpation or pretence of spiritual authority we observe 
to be employed for the appropriate purpose of enslaving 
the human conscience. 

In spite of revelation, men have found many ways of 
creating imaginary gods after their own image. This was 
especially true in the Christian Church in the centuries 
preceding the cultivation of physical science. The anal- 
ogies of a judge and of a king, pressed far beyond any war- 
rant afforded in the Bible, have been made especially 
fruitful in absurdities. The familiar examples of human 
potentates, with the well-known characters of those who 
were most prominent in history, the dif^culty of access 
and the methods and the mediums of approach to them, 
the capriciousness of their conduct, and the uncertainty of 
the result in cases of appeal to them, all these associations 
have exercised a most pernicious influence on the habit of 
religious thought. Traces of this influence still appear 
even among the most enlightened Christian communions, 
while elsewhere these human analogies now hold millions 
of professed Christians in practical idolatry. 



FAITH. 269 

But of greater power, to blind the human mind to the 
true conception of God, than even man's exclusiveness 
and intolerance, and misleading human analogies, have 
been the deep and lasting impressions that have been left 
upon the Church by paganism. From paganism the 
Church has, among other things, derived the priest and 
the sacrifice, which is a remnant not of Hebrew but of 
pagan rites, the worship of the queen of heaven, the canon- 
ization or semi-deification of men, the ideas of informing 
and of appeasing an absent and angry God, and the doc- 
trine of purgatory. On this last superstition the Roman 
Church seems to have improved. The school-boy reads 
the original fable in his Virgil, but we do not learn that 
the priests of Jupiter ever thought of the stupendous ac- 
count to which it could be turned. 

But above all, the Church received from heathen an- 
tiquity the dogmas, that ignorance is the mother of devo- 
tion, and that reason and faith are antagonistic to each 
other. In their original application these dogmas were 
perfectly true. There could be no reconciliation between 
the philosophy of Greece, in the age of its maturity, and 
the system of classic mythology. The philosopers then 
realized, perhaps as clearly as we do now, that the deities 
who received the adoration of the vulgar, whose worship 
was woven into the fabrics of their domestic and social 
and political life, in whose temples and images art gave 
expression to its loftiest conceptions, the stories of whose 
births and deeds constituted the chief intellectual posses- 
sion of the multitude, and the imposing ritual of whose 
service awed and held captive their imaginations, were all 
"airy nothings," who from the poet's pen had received their 
"names and habitations." So when philosophy and pa- 
ganism met in the same communities, nothing could be 
more true than were these two dogmas. Ignorance was 



270 FAITH. 

the mother of devotion, and between reason and credulity, 
miscalled faith, there was complete antagonism. 

As the Christian Church degenerated into a mighty 
system of imposture, with which it combined a system of 
extortion that paganism never knew, it naturally accepted 
and made full practical use of this legacy, the endurance 
of which has seemed to be one of the strange phenomena 
of history. The fact is, these maxims of paganism have 
endured, and still endure, because they are true in their 
application to all human substitutes for true religion. 
While the latter demands the exercise of the highest in- 
telligence, every form of human counterfeit shuns its 
searching light. Moreover, the merely traditionary in- 
fluence of those dogmas, especially of that one which 
declares an antagonism between reason and faith, is felt 
universally even to this day ; and that in a degree that 
illustrates how difficult a thing it is for the mind to shake 
off the chains of a falsehood that bears the stamp of age. 
This dogma still exercises an insidious power, even where 
religion has been most cleansed from man's defilement, 
and over minds by whom the naked proposition, in its 
terms, would be instantly rejected. 

But, O my friend, let us get away from these exhibitions 
of human infirmity, and cast off from our spirits the spell 
of their misleading and contracting and degrading influ- 
ences, and come forth into the presence of the God of all 
revelation. So far, too, as we may, let us rise above the 
effects of familiarity with the amazing exhibitions of His 
love, and behold that love as, universal and changeless, it 
enfolds us on every side. Let us lift our eyes to the 
heavens, where the Almighty has written his name, and 
see the sun forever shining in his strength, not with partial 
glory, but to quicken into life and gladness alike each in- 
dividual being, to reveal alike every object, to penetrate 



FAITH. 271 

every eye. Let us look upon the earth, that cannot for- 
get one grain of sand. And as we behold this glory and 
realize this equal care, and as we feel the animating breath 
of the universal air, let us receive into our minds the great 
truth, that every thing was intended to promote the 
growth, and encourage the exercise, of faith toward God 
in the soul of man. 

In endeavoring to rise to the contemplation of this 
theme, a definition of faith seems first to be called for. 
What, then, is faith? I answer, faith is a state or con- 
dition of the mind, rather than a form of spiritual activity. 
It is that state of trust, peace, and repose of the soul in 
God, which is not capable of being disturbed. Faith and 
love are intimately blended with one another. Love is 
the form of spiritual activity by which the Infinite object 
of faith is recognized, and of which faith is itself the re- 
sult. Faith, on the other hand, is the ground out of 
which love springs forth. Each one works forever to inten- 
sify the other. 

Faith can have no existence in the philosophic mind 
where there is no perception of God in His works. To 
the mind in which that meaningless expression, '' the uni- 
form constitution and course of nature," rises like a wall 
before the sight, and which feels no impulse to penetrate 
through this senseless jargon, to the bright region where 
all truth is found, nothing but darkness is possible. 
But to the illumined spirit, that has been re-created in the 
moral image of God, and so has become enabled in all the 
activities of nature to behold the eternal faithfulness of 
the Infinite Father, the unvarying activity of His love, that 
realizes how, in its utter helplessness, it is every moment 
carried in His arms, and folded to His bosom, that feels 
the rapture of conscious participation in His universal and 
infinite affection, to such a spirit faith is the natural and 
necessary state. 



2/2 FAITH, 

In this perception of the changeless nature of the love 
of God, we find, as has already been expressed, the real 
and only ground of faith. It is obvious that faith follows 
necessarily from this perception, and must exist in the 
soul just in the degree in which this perception itself be- 
comes clear and distinct. The two are inseparable. Faith 
cannot exist where the Divine love is not recognized, and 
it cannot be wanting where this love is recognized. It 
must coexist with the apprehension of this love, just 
according to the degree of such apprehension. 

We conclude, therefore, that '' reason " and faith must 
harmonize, whenever the facts on which a judgment is to be 
based are all present to consciousness. It will be admitted, 
necessarily, that, in this as in any other case, all the facts 
must be so present, in order that the mind, in its judicial 
activity, may arrive at a correct conclusion. This harmony, 
it is evident, must become more complete, as the spiritual 
comprehension grows larger, and as the conceptions which 
are formed, or the recognitions which are made, by the 
liighest mode of our spiritual activity become more dis- 
tinct. 

As this symmetrical intellectual and emotional develop- 
ment of our nature goes on, we must perceive more and 
more clearly the analogies with which the creation is filled, 
which illustrate the relation of the soul of man to God. 
All things combine to tell us, with continually more clear 
and delightful voice, the everlasting story of our Father's 
love. As we know that the earth will not fly away and 
leave us desolate in space, so we know that nothing can 
ever separate us from the Infinite Being, between whom 
and us there exists the attraction of love. 

Two results follow from the development of faith ; or 
rather, two things attend this development, and grow in 
degree with it. The first of these is the perception or 



FAITH. 273 

realization of the truth, that the state of harmony of the 
soul with the nature of God is the only real good, and the 
want of this harmony is the only real evil ; that all other 
seeming good or ill is good or ill in reality, and is to be 
desired or to be dreaded, only as it will promote, or will 
hinder, the attainment of this state of harmony ; which 
becomes the object of supreme and exclusive longing, just 
in the degree that the spirit has already attained to it. 
The individual of necessity in the same degree rises 
superior to the vicissitudes of time. External conditions 
have less and less power to affect his repose. He becomes 
able to glory in tribulations. He knows that trials and 
distresses are the crowning assurance of the love of the 
Father, who by these means draws the soul more closely 
to himself. 

The second result is intimately connected with the first. 
The spirit has found the source of joy. There is no pes- 
simism now, no repinings seek for expression now. The 
spirit sees in all around it the reflection of its own glad- 
ness. It rejoices in the realization of the truth that this 
is a good world, that it is the very best world that Al- 
mighty Goodness could make, that every thing in the 
earth and the heavens is intended to minister to uni- 
versal gladness, that the normal, healthy state of every 
being is a state of joy. The spirit rejoices in all the in- 
fluences which tend to enlarge its powers and capabilities, 
and quicken it into every form of healthful activity. It 
rejoices especially in every thing that helps it to form the 
grand conception of the universal and necessary nature of 
the truth and love of God, that infinite and changeless 
reality, of which the whole nature of things is the mighty 
manifestation. 

Let us turn again to the Bible. Is this book in har- 
mony with nature here ? Yes, emphatically yes. This 



274 FAITH. 

dependence, this care, this trust, this joy, — the Bible is 
luminous with all these. In these respects, also, the Bible 
appears as the verbal expression of truth, as this exists in 
the nature of things. About this expression it is also to 
be observed, that it is not such an expression as could be 
made by any finite mind. It always transcends our power 
of comprehension. The expressions of these truths which 
are employed in the Bible are always of a nature requiring 
spiritual discernment, and calculated continually to raise 
the mind which is capable of such discernment to a fuller 
apprehension of them. 

Moreover, that apprehension which is the deepest and 
the fullest finds the language of the Bible satisfying, 
and more than satisfying. This language is still stimula- 
ting. It conveys to the mind, as this becomes capable of 
receiving it, a sense of a degree of care and trust and joy 
to which there is no limit. This is especially true of the 
words of the Christ. When we reflect upon the character 
of the expressions that are employed by the Christ for the 
presentation and illustration of these themes, we cannot 
fail to perceive that the language applies to realities which 
are infinite in their nature, and that these realities are com- 
pletely apprehended by the mind from which the language 
proceeds. 



PRAYER. 



I SHOULD not have presumed to touch this high theme, 
if it had not appeared to me that the true view of the 
nature and office of prayer grew directly out of the pre- 
ceding Hne of thought ; and that, therefore, the presenta- 
tion of that view in this connection would tend to remove 
doubts respecting the efficacy of prayer, which exist in 
minds to whom these papers are especially addressed. 
These doubts have been encouraged by criticism from 
high scientific authority, criticism that was imagined to be 
based on scientific grounds, but which, in reality, pro- 
ceeded from an entire misconception of the subject. 

The question is a common one : " How is prayer to God 
to be reconciled with the idea of his changeless nature ? " 
" If the purposes of God move on eternally to their accom- 
plishment, like the earth in its orbit, how are these pur- 
poses to be modified or the events to be affected, in the 
least degree, by prayer?" 

This question is not to be answered directly, but it dis- 
appears, as a reasonable expression, as soon as we have 
got a correct idea of the nature of prayer. 

The common idea of prayer, and the idea which gives 
apparent point to the above question, has been in a large 
degree derived from human analogies, which here, as 
everywhere else, are inadequate and misleading. A peti- 
tion addressed to an earthly potentate or tribunal or 

275 



2/6 PRA YER. 

parent is always designed to influence the party addressed. 
It is intended, first, to furnish information that such 
party did not before possess, and secondly, to incline him 
favorably towards some object, either from a previous 
state of indifference, or from a contrary inclination. The 
design of the petition is to induce the earthly superior to 
form or to change a purpose, and the result is always un- 
certain. All these notions, derived from human analogies, 
underlie and contribute more or less to influence or to 
form the common idea of prayer to God, so far as this idea 
has any definiteness. It may be added that this idea of 
prayer is naturally formed by minds which have no ex- 
perimental knowledge of its true nature. Moreover, such 
minds may often be disposed to insist on this conception, 
as being the only one possible to be imagined, because it 
is the only one which they themselves can form. The 
true nature of prayer is, however, very far removed from 
any such conception. 

Prayer is the highest form of cooperative action re- 
quired on the part of man. It is that cooperative action 
on his part upon w^hich the reception of the highest good 
has been made dependent. The general truth has been 
established, that our own cooperation, to the full extent of 
our ability, is essential to the obtaining of any good what- 
ever. It has been shown that there are various modes of 
this cooperation, that these modes of necessity differ ac- 
cording to the nature of the benefit sought, but that in 
all cases alike the faithful putting forth of our own co- 
operative effort is the condition upon which we receive 
the benefit. We observed that in each case there is com- 
paratively little of the work which has to be done that we 
have been made capable of doing, that the doing of that 
little requires the exertion of our utmost efforts, and that 
it must always be done. 



PRA YER. 277 

We are not to inquire why this is so. Our observation 
and our conscious experience both teach us the fact that 
the requirement is a universal one. We cannot imagine 
an exception to it. Our own cooperative effort is always 
necessary, and, other things being equal, we receive every 
thing in the degree that is proportionate to the earnest- 
ness and fidelity with which we do our part. 

Now the highest possible good of every human being is 
not any thing of an external or of a temporary character, 
neither does such highest good consist in knowledge or in 
intellectual power. The highest benefit that can be con- 
ferred upon any individual is the transformation of his 
nature. The object that is supremely to be desired by 
every rational being is, that his own nature shall be 
brought into a state of harmony with the nature of God, 
or, in the stronger and deeper language of the Bible, that 
he shall be made a ^'partaker of the Divine nature." 

It cannot be conceived that in the case of this supreme 
good an exception should exist to the otherwise universal 
law ; that man should have this blessing alone thrust upon 
him without any cooperative act on his part. Neither can 
it be conceived that, while in all other cases the receptive 
state of our being is an active state, in this case only it is 
a passive one. In some way, then, man must actively 
cooperate in the work of receiving this blessing. There 
must be something that he can do, and that he must do, 
with all the energy of his nature. There is only one thing 
that he can do. 

This is to pray. When an individual recognizes at once 
his need and his helplessness, in this supreme respect of 
the radical and complete transformation of his nature, he 
intuitively cries out : ** Create in me a clean heart, O 
Lord." Just in the degree in which one perceives this 
need and this helplessness, in which their reality is dis- 



2/8 PR A YER. 

closed to him, just in that degree, of necessity, will his 
supplication be earnest and persevering. Thus it has 
been with sincere men in all ages and among all people, 
according to the light that each one has possessed. It is 
affecting to read the prayer of Socrates, as recorded by 
Plato: *'0 friendly Pan" (that is the All, the Universal 
Being), " as well as all other gods, as many as are in this 
place, give to me inmost beauty of soul." ^ 

The fact must be stated again, that the only thing 
which man can do toward obtaining this supreme good, 
this gradual transformation of his nature into the likeness 
of Christ, is to make this supplication. This is the form 
of cooperative effort that is demanded from man, as the 
condition on which alone he can receive this gift, between 
which and all inferior gifts there can be no comparison. 
Prayer is the mode of effort that is adapted to the nature 
of the purely spiritual good that is sought by it ; precisely 
as labor and study are the modes of effort that are adapted 
to the various forms of inferior good that are sought by 
them. 

Between all these modes of effort there exists a likeness 
that may not at first be perceived. Both labor and study 
are the practical modes of asking for the benefits that are 
obtained by those means respectively. In employing 
them, we express our desire for those benefits in the only 
practical way, namely, by putting our minds into a re- 
ceptive condition, and making use of the obvious means 
for obtaining them. So also in prayer, man puts his mind 
into the only condition in which it is capable of receiving 
this spiritual good, and employs the only and obvious 

^^iQ cpiXe ndv TE xai aXXot 0601 rrfdE ^eoiy doir/re iJ.oixaXcpy8ve6- 
^ai rdvdoS^sv R/iaedrus, p. 279 st. 

A Latin note interprets this prayer as follows : " Quod enim orat, ut intus 
in pectore gerat pulcritudinem." 



PR A YER. 279 

means of obtaining it. By the obvious means is meant 
the means that, to the mind filled with the desire after 
holiness, suggests itself as naturally and necessarily as the 
suitable means for obtaining any forms of inferior good 
suggest themselves to the mind that is filled with a desire 
after them. So labor and study and prayer are the prac- 
tical expressions of these different desires, in modes 
adapted to the nature of each one. 

But the objector may say : " Still, prayer is an effort 
to change a result, that, from all eternity, has been fixed 
in the purpose of God." 

The reply to this objection, which at once exposes its 
superficial nature, and reveals the fact that it is founded 
upon our own ignorance and limited power of thought, is 
this : The objection lies equally against every other form 
of cooperative effort on the part of man, or against all 
human activity whatever. 

It is true respecting this spiritual benefit, and equally 
true respecting all other benefits, that they are alike of 
necessity fixed in the eternal purpose, and that at the 
same time they are made dependent on our own exer- 
tions. But men do not raise this difficultv in other cases. 
They are not at all troubled about the fact that if they do 
not sow they will not reap, if they do not observe and 
study they will not learn, or if they do not put forth the 
adequate effort they will not accomplish any result what 
ever. They never think of inquiring what the fixed pur- 
pose of God may be in these respects, or of looking upon 
their exertions as attempts to change the Divine purpose. 
In all these cases men inquire only what there is for them 
to do, and they gird up their loins, and apply themselves 
in earnest to do it. So we have no more right, and it is 
no more natural to sincere men, to be troubled about the 
dependence of spiritual blessing upon the employment by 
us of the means of prayer. 



28o PR A YER. 

The observation is a familiar one, and is applicable to 
our work and study and prayer alike, that the means must 
be ordained just as absolutely as the result. We can, 
however, hardly pretend to explain the mystery in which 
the whole subject is involved, and which is only one of 
the wilderness of mysteries within which we have our 
being. It is very certain, however, that such questions 
should give us no more concern, and should have no more 
effect upon our action, in the case of prayer, than they do 
respecting any other form of our mental or physical 
activity. 

A special objection is often urged against prayer, which 
is, that no connection can be perceived by us between 
prayer and the answer to it, as there can be between labor 
or study and their results. The inference that the objec- 
tor would like to have drawn is, that because such connec- 
tion cannot be perceived by us, therefore such connection 
cannot exist. In an earlier paper attention has been 
called to the major premise of the syllogism, from which 
such a conclusion would follow. 

In truth, however, when we attempt to enter upon the 
subject of the relation between cause and effect, we at 
once find ourselves beyond our depth. We know nothing 
beyond uniformly observed sequences. The nature of the 
connection between the precedent and the consequent 
acts is hidden from us in all cases alike. A familiar illus- 
tration may make this limitation of our knowledge more 
obvious. In crossing the bay, one looks upon a vessel 
that is being towed by means of a line, and then looks at 
the moon. He observes that he can see what compels 
the vessel to follow the tug, but cannot see what holds 
the moon to the earth. One looking more deeply, how- 
ever, will perceive that he cannot discover the compelling 
force any more in the one case than he can in the other. 



PRAYER. 281 

What we term the attraction of cohesion, by which the 
rope is held together, is in reahty as much a mystery to 
us as the attraction of gravitation is. So also, and in a 
sense that is no more absolute, the sequence between 
prayer and its answer, as well as that which exists between 
labor and its reward, are both alike among " the secret 
things" that ''belong unto the Lord our God." 

Prayer is the real desire of the soul. Whatever in its 
depths the soul longs for above all other things, that is 
the object of its prayer. When this longing of the soul 
is after the state of holiness, for itself, for others, for all 
mankind, then, just in the degree in which this desire 
takes possession of the soul, and all other objects are lost 
sight of in the realization of the incomparable value of 
this good, just in that degree does the soul cooperate with 
God in this supreme sense. 

The line of thought which has been followed seems 
necessarily to lead to the conclusion that prayer is the 
natural and spontaneous act of the spirit to which God 
has in some degree been revealed, and that it is the mode 
of man's cooperation with God in the -work of his own 
exaltation to a state of holiness, or to a condition of 
harmony of nature with God ; that supreme work, to 
which our environment of force and truth and beauty, and 
underneath all of love, in the physical creation is designed 
to contribute, as its ultimate purpose ; that work for which 
the supreme manifestation of infinite love in the great 
mystery of the crucified Christ was given ; and finally that 
work which all human suffering, also, is adapted, and so 
evidently is designed, to aid in accomplishing. 

Let us now turn to the teaching of the Bible on this 
subject. Here, as everywhere, we shall find the Bible to 
harmonize with and complete the teaching of nature. 
The Bible gives to this teaching distinct expression. It 



282 PR A YER. 

is its audible voice. In the Bible this natural command 
to the cooperative activity of prayer, like all othernatural 
commands, finds living and adequate utterance. 

For our first illustration we turn to the Lord's prayer, 
which is the only form of petition taught and enjoined 
by the Christ. Here the following features are first 
to be noted : This prayer is to be addressed by every 
individual directly to God. No supplication is to be made 
to any other being, not even to the Christ, as distinct 
from the Father. All intermediate aid is excluded. No 
creature is to come between the soul and its Father in 
Heaven. The very ideas of representation, or of the re- 
moval of God to a distance from the individual suppliant, 
would seem to be made impossible. Instead of all this, 
the language of this prayer assumes the fact that every- 
where and at all times each individual soul is already and 
continually in the immediate presence of God. In all 
these things we recognize what we know to be the truth 
with respect to the God of nature. 

We come now to the prayer itself. That which is the 
supreme object of desire naturally rises first of all for ex- 
pression, and is longest dwelt upon. So, after the fond 
address, expressive of the endearing relations existing be- 
tween the soul and God, there comes first the prayer for 
the coming of God's kingdom, or, in other words, for the 
restoration of all mankind to the state of holiness. This 
petition is repeated three times, in words which, though 
very different, mean in reality the same thing. This three- 
fold repetition shows the earnestness with which the re- 
covered soul dwells upon this supreme object. 

While the accomplishment of this triune petition in- 
volves and depends wholly upon the restoration of man- 
kind to a sinless state, — while this is the work, and the only 
work, to be done in answer to these petitions, still in their 



PRA YER. 283 

form these petitions present the glory of God as the 
supreme object of desire, and do not, except by necessary 
implication, refer to man at all. This, it is evident, is the 
form in which adoring love must of necessity frame its 
supplications. 

Besides that which is directly expressed in this three- 
fold prayer, there are implied in its language two things 
which are of the deepest interest. The first of these is, 
that there exists now a state of being in which the will of 
God is perfectly done, in which absolute harmony and 
unity with the Divine nature prevails. The second is, 
that on the earth also, and in the same perfect degree, 
God's name shall be hallowed, his kingdom shall come, his 
will shall be done ; for we cannot suppose that we have 
been taught to utter an idle petition, but rather one that 
must surely be fulfilled. 

From the great height of this comprehensive petition, 
the prayer now descends to the lowly supplication for 
personal mercies. It asks for nothing beyond immediate 
necessary provision, and expresses a sense of the absolute 
dependence, which is man's real condition. '^ Daily bread," 
as employed in this prayer, is, however, an expression, the 
deep meaning of which it is impossible for us fully to 
realize. We must search for light upon it through all the 
teachings of the Christ. Primarily it is doubtless to be un- 
derstood in a spiritual sense. It forms a part of that simple 
but vivid figurative language everywhere employed by 
the Christ, who said of himself, *' I am the bread of life." 

Thus spiritually regarded, this petition for " daily 
bread " is seen to be a repetition, in a personal sense, of the 
former general and comprehensive petitions. It is also a 
petition framed in conformity with the Divine method of 
gradual growth and development, which is the uniform 
method of the transforming work of God. 



284 PR A YER. 

After this there follows the fearful petition with a con- 
dition. This condition was directly after explained and 
emphasized by the great Teacher, with the assurance that 
in the very nature of things it is only the forgiving soul 
that can receive forgiveness. Here we discover again the 
operation of the law of likeness. Just as the revelations 
of truth and beauty and love are possible only to truth 
and beauty and love, so forgiveness is possible only to 
forgiveness. We recognize another phase of the universal 
harmony that runs through the spiritual creation. 

The prayer then closes with a petition, likewise repeated 
in substance, for the spiritual watch and care of God. 

It is to be observed further respecting prayer, that in 
order to be effective it must be the habitual state of the 
mind. Precisely as in all our other forms of coopera- 
tive effort, so also here. It is the long-continued labor 
or application or prayer, that is demanded and re- 
warded. There must be in prayer the same fixed and 
habitual concentration of the whole being, that men who 
are capable of strong purpose exhibit with respect to any 
thing whatever about which they are in downright earnest. 
And, indeed, prayer calls for this concentrated and perse- 
vering earnestness in the highest possible degree ; as the 
object that is sought is of inconceivably greater conse- 
quence than any other object can be. 

This is illustrated in the prayer of Solomon for wisdom. 
The selection of this illustration may perhaps surprise the 
cursory reader of the Bible. Indeed the real character of 
this prayer, in this respect, is generally misapprehended. 
So much is this the case, that the answer to the prayer of 
Solomon is often cited to show the imagined special and 
capricious action of God, in favoring whom he chooses, with- 
out being governed by a general principle. The erroneous 
and superficial nature of this view will at once appear. 



PRA YER. 285 

In considering this petition, we are struck with the fact, 
that when suddenly the command was addressed to Solo- 
mon, " Ask what I shall give thee," the answer of the 
youthful king was ready. There was no hesitation about 
its utterance. It was also single. He made but one re- 
quest. Although not limited in any way he asked for 
only one thing. He asked for wisdom and knowledge " to 
judge this thy so great people," and he ceased. 

Now when we refl»gct upon it, it is evident that this 
could not have been a desire suddenly formed, in its single- 
ness and distinctness, and expressed on the spur of the 
moment. This must have been the ripened and absorbing 
longing, with which the whole being of Solomon was 
already filled, in order that it should rise thus sponta- 
neously to his lips, and find clear and eloquent utterance, 
at the instant of demand. 

But we are not left to conjecture on this point. In 
three places the prayers of David for his son are recorded 
to the same effect, and one of these prayers is expressed 
in this very same language. The history is thus brought 
sufificiently before us. This had been the habitual petition 
for Solomon of his father before him. Solomon had 
listened to this petition from his infancy, and had made it 
his own. It had become the habitual state of his mind. 
When the responsibility of ruling was cast upon him, this 
longing for knowledge and wisdom from God became in 
the highest degree intensified. 

Then, when the instant of test came to Solomon, as it 
comes to all without a warning, when the work of years 
in the formation of character is to be shown in the act or 
decision of the moment, '/ Ask what I shall give thee," 
there could be no struggle, nor any hesitation, because 
there was no other desire in his heart, except the life-long 
one that filled his whole being. 



286 PR A YER. 

In addition to the Lord's Prayer, much of the teachings 
of the Christ relate to the subject of prayer. These 
instructions are of the deepest significance. Our present 
view of them must be limited and general. 

In studying the words of the Christ, we find, among 
their many striking features, two with which we are now 
especially concerned. These are, their simplicity and, on 
appropriate occasions, their intensity. Respecting the 
first of these features, it is to be observed among men, 
that when, as the result of deep and prolonged study, a 
person has become familiar with any particular subject, it 
is generally the case that his statements and explanations 
of this subject become simple and direct, and this just in 
the degree of his familiarity with it. In this respect there 
is no human teaching that can, in the most remote 
degree, be compared with the absolute simplicity and 
directness of the language, respecting the deepest truths, 
that was always employed by the Christ. 

But the language of the Christ frequently presents a 
startling boldness of imagery and an intensity of expres- 
sion which are entirely unique. In this respect, also, it 
differs from all other recorded speech. As the parables of 
our Lord required for their production, first, an absolute 
comprehension of the spiritual truths that were to be 
illustrated, and secondly, an intimate knowledge of the 
duality of the creation, by which all common and familiar 
things are made adapted for the illustration of these 
truths, so in all the teachings of the Christ we perceive the 
same absolute knowledge of truth, and of the impossi- 
bility of its being compromised by admixture with the 
least degree of error. This demanded for its expression 
the ultimate and hitherto unknown power of language, 
language nothing like which has ever been employed 
since, as indeed it never could be by a finite intelligence. 



PR A YER. 287 

In addition to these features we have everywhere, also, 
the form of authoritative declaration. The Christ never 
reasons. He assumes the office of declaring spiritual 
truth. This he does in language which is plain to the 
most simple understanding, and which, at the same time, 
is found by the thoughtful student to present depths of 
meaning that are too profound for human plummet to 
sound. 

All these features characterize the utterances of the 
Christ on the subject of prayer. The great primary object 
of prayer is distinguished by him with singular vividness. 
He commands men to ask in prayer for only one thing, as 
its sole appropriate object. He dwells principally upon 
negative instruction. Most of his teaching is directed to 
declaring what we are not to seek for in prayer. The full 
meaning of the language of the Christ, as this is given by 
different evangelists, is believed to be expressed as fol- 
lows : " Have no anxiety about your daily wants." '* Be 
not concerned about your part of the universal bounty." 
"Be not tossed on the billows of care." "For," he 
adds, "your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need 
of all these things." " Consider the lilies." " Shall he 
not much more clothe you?" "Behold the fowls of the 
air." " Ye are of more value than many sparrows." 
Who shall measure the meaning and the tenderness of 
the language of the Christ on this subject ? Although its 
significance is only feebly apprehended, yet it reaches to 
the heart of the human race, and is cherished by mankind 
among their most precious treasures. 

The fact is an impressive one, though it is one we are 
inclined to overlook, that this wonderful language is 
employed by the Christ in declaring what things we are 
not to pray for, and in the effort to make us understand, 
why we are not to pray for them. 



288 PR A YER. 

It is to be observed that the importance of this instruc- 
tion, as to that for which we are not to ask, is emphasized 
by the Christ, by the repetition and fulness of illustration 
with which he dwells upon it. But there is one thing 
about which we are to be concerned. There is one thing 
which we are to seek, and that with all the earnestness of 
which we are capable. '' Seek ye the Kingdom of God." 

Concerning this kingdom, the Christ gave to mankind 
this command and promise: "Ask, and ye shall receive." 
This is among the simplest forms of speech, yet how 
much does it contain ! Let us emphasize the first word, 
the command, ask. Here we have presented to us the 
necessity of asking, as the condition of receiving this gift. 
We are taught that man must cooperate, in the only pos- 
sible way, in the work of securing this supreme good. A 
mystery is involved in this necessity that we cannot 
fathom. We recognize the fact, however, that obedience 
to this requirement in the act of prayer is in harmony 
with the universal law of cooperation. Here, as every- 
ivhere else, our will must harmonize with the will of God. 
His desire to grant must be met by a corresponding 
desire on our part to receive. This desire must, in this, 
as in all other cases, manifest itself in appropriate activity. 
With this voluntary cooperation on our part all the infi- 
nite yearning of the Father may not dispense. This is 
the uniform teaching of the Bible, which closes with the 
symbol of our cooperative act in drinking: ''Whosoever 
will, let him take of the water of life freely." However 
trifling the act that is required on the part of man, that 
act must be voluntarily performed. 

In this command, to ask for a single object, we have 
the final illustration that will be cited of the general fact, 
that the Bible is nature in language. This command, like 
those to which attention has already been called, is one 



PR A YER, 289 

that exists in the nature of things. It arises out of the 
conditions of our existence, in the present stage of our 
being. As already stated, the normal relations between 
God and man are those of infinite care on the part of God, 
and infinite trust, as well as dependence, on the part of 
man. This care is in reality exercised, but the correspond- 
ing trust is either altogether dormant, or at the best is only 
feebly developed. The quickening of this trust into full 
activity, with the change of nature which this involves, is 
the only good for which we are bidden to ask. It is also 
not merely the chief, in the absolute sense of the word it 
is the only^ human want. 

These few words have been given to the command. We 
now pass to the promise : "Ye 5//^// receive." The Christ 
here declares the necessary connection between asking and 
receiving this unspeakable gift. In this case also, the 
consequence that was attached by the Christ to this 
promise is shown by its repetition. The promise, condi- 
tional upon the petition, is presented to us six times, 
in six different forms of expression, growing in force 
to the end. Then in addition a contrast is stated be- 
tween the certainty of the gifts or expressions of affection 
of God and of man, which is important to be dwelt upon 
also as proving the divinity of the speaker. David had 
said : " Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord 
pitieth them that fear Him." It is to be observed that 
human language never went further than this, and that 
because it could not. This expressed the uttermost limit 
•of human experience, and therefore, also, the uttermost 
limit of human conception. No deeper emotion can 
form its image in our consciousness. But the Christ 
says : " If ye, then, being evil, know how to give good 
gifts to your children, how much more shall your Heavenl3r 
Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?'* 



290 PRA YER. 

How much more ! No finite mind can measure the 
meaning of these words. It is only when we consider 
the faithfulness of God in nature, as shown in the unvary- 
ing uniformity of His beneficent activity, that we can 
form in our minds some notion of the absolute nature of 
the connection that is here declared by the Christ to ex- 
ist between our asking and our receiving this spiritual gift. 
In these words of the Christ, ^' ask, and ye shall receive," 
we hear the same voice to Avhich we listen in the physical 
creation, declaring His own unvarying truth in all His 
conduct. This supreme and inconceivable good is thus 
declared to be wholly dependent on our prayers, and also 
certain to be given in answer to them. The Bible, to 
which we have appealed, teaches uniformly that prayer 
is the mode of man's cooperation in the reception of this 
good. 

But Christians cling to the feeling that they should pray 
to God for every thing. They ask if it is not their duty to 
do so. Ought not men, they say, to ask God for every 
thing for which they are dependent upon Him ? This in- 
clination, which is without doubt pretty nearly a universal 
one, shows three things: a want of faith in God, a feeble 
realization of the infinite difference between all earthly 
benefits and the single spiritual good, and a disposition to 
ignore the positive and earnest command of the Christ. Let 
us look at the obvious reasons for this command. There 
is, in the first place, unspeakable danger that the desire 
after inferior benefits, or to escape from inferior ills, may 
take in the mind the place of the desire after the infinite 
good and to be delivered from the immeasurable ill ; that 
the lesser may engross our thoughts and anxiety, and hide 
the greater from our sight. There can be no doubt that 
this disastrous result is always produced in some degree, 
and generally in a large degree. This tendency it is> 



PR A YER. 291 

against which these commands of the Christ were ex- 
pressly directed, and which is to be overcome only by 
absolute obedience to them. 

It is also to be observed, that there is only one thing, 
about which we are certain what the will and purpose of 
God is. That is, the re-creation of our nature, of the 
nature of all mankind, in His image. This is the one 
thing for which we can ask in the full certainty that our 
desire is in harmony with the Divine purpose. But here we 
must stop. Concerning any inferior object of desire, we 
cannot generally have the least idea whether its possession 
would promote or would hinder this supreme blessing. We 
cannot imagine whether our prayer for it is in harmony 
with, or contrary to, the beneficent purpose of God. If 
the individual is really seeking the kingdom of God, with 
the faintest appreciation of its nature, how is it possible 
for him to have any desire, respecting any thing else what- 
ever, except to leave it in the hands of God. It would 
seem as if to the soul filled with faith every thing, joy or 
sorrow, prosperity or adversity, health or sickness, life or 
death, would be equally welcome, because equally certain 
to be the means that its Heavenly Father was employing 
to convey to it the single and priceless object of its 
desire. 

This is the spirit that will be found breathing through 
the supplicatory hymns, Avhich are in familiar use among 
all Christian people. It finds full and fervent expression 
in the verses commencing : 

*' Thy will, not mine, O Lord" ; 

" My Jesus, as thou wilt " ; 

" When thee I seek, protecting Power" ; 

as well as in many others. One is struck with the inspired 
character of the language of our hymn writers in this 
respect. 



292 PRA YER. 

We turn again to the words of the Christ. " Sell all 
that thou hast." Let nothing come between thy soul and 
me. With what tremendous language does he repeatedly 
drive this demand through and through the soul. Then 
comes the tenderness, and revelation of the method of 
divine love : " Blessed are they that mourn." Then the 
assurance, conditioned upon obedience to the command 
^' Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness," 
that without our asking '' all these things shall be added 
unto you." 

To this agree the words of the Psalm : " Let the people 
praise thee, O God ; let all the people praise thee. Then 
shall the earth yield her increase; and God, even our 
own God, shall bless us." 

In the light of this express teaching of the Christ, we 
feel an emotion of awe when we turn back a thousand 
years, and read the answer of God to Solomon : '' Because 
thou hast not asked. ^ ^ -^ I have given thee." Ob- 
serve the language : " Because thou hast not asked." 
Solomon was animated by the single spirit of consecration 
to duty. He saw that he must become a means either of 
good or of harm to his people. The absorbing desire of 
his heart was that he might be kept from the latter, and 
be enabled to achieve the former, of these two ends. This 
anxiety filled his mind, so that it was not possible for him 
to entertain any desires of a personal nature. '' And God 
said to Solomon : Because this was in thine heart, and 
thou hast not asked riches, wealth or honor, nor the life 
of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life * * * 
Behold, I have done according to thy words * * * 
And 1 have also given thee that which thou hast not 
asked." 

A thousand years apart ! The words of God ! " Because 



PRA YER. 293. 

.thou hast not asked, I have given thee." " Seek ye first 
the kingdom, and all these things shall be added." 

It would seem that with the very beginning of faith 
there must come the prompting to leave all inferior 
things without anxiety to Him, whose care over every 
creature is infinite, and who alone can know by what 
means to convey to the soul that good which is the single 
object of its desire, both for itself and for its fellow-beings. 
This trust cannot hinder, but, on the contrary, it must 
quicken, the individual in the performance of every duty- 
It forms the only sure ground of fidelity. It elevates the 
soul above the reach of repining. It increases its capacity 
for happiness, as well as its ability to impart happiness to 
others. It gives to the spirit a serene tranquillity that 
enables it to exert all its powers most effectively, and so 
becomes in the highest degree conducive to its usefulness,. 
in every occupation and relation of life. 

We are brought to this general conclusion, that prayer- 
is that highest form of our cooperative activity, which has. 
for its appropriate object the exaltation of ourselves and 
our race to a state of holiness, an object which is inclusive 
of all those subordinate objects that may be conducive to 
this supreme result. 

The spirit, however, that lives in any degree in a state 
of harmony with the divine nature cannot fail to desire 
the blessing of God upon its work, upon that which is the 
object of its just and honest effort, whatever the nature 
of that effort may be. A notable example of this is re- 
ferred to in the Introduction to these papers. This desire 
such a spirit necessarily feels, and longs to give expression 
to it. 

The desire itself, however, is commonly vague and indis- 
tinct, and so the expression of it is often general and indefi- 



294 PRAYER.. 

nite. This is a great pity. It would be a gain every way 
if in all cases a clear and distinct meaning should be at- 
tached to this petition, and if this meaning should assume 
definite expression. On this point, as on so many others, 
mechanical science affords a real help. We may here 
listen to its final lesson. It will be the same lesson that 
we heard at the beginning. In mechanics we cannot ac- 
complish any thing unless our purposes are in harmony 
with the purposes of God. The object of all study and 
of all experiment in mechanical pursuits, is to ascertain 
those eternal and unchangeable purposes, in order that 
our own may be brought into accord with them. 

Intelligent prayer for the blessing of God on our me- 
chanical work, whether this work, as was the case with 
Robert Stephenson, be a bridge across an arm of the sea, 
to be built on a plan as yet untried, or whatever it may 
be, whether it involve great or small responsibility, must, 
it is obvious, be a prayer, first, for such insight as shall 
enable us to comprehend all the conditions and require- 
ments of the problem ; and then for such fidelity and 
watchfulness as shall ensure our compliance with these 
conditions and requirements in every particular, from the 
greatest down to the least and most insignificant. This 
must be the prayer. And with this prayer there must be 
joined, and of necessity there will be, since it is prompted 
by the same disposition, the earnest study of these con- 
ditions and requirements, and of the principles and laws 
that are involved in our work ; and, united with this study, 
a ceaseless watchfulness, and the faithful doing of every 
thing that is devolved on us to be done. 

The universal application of this lesson is obvious. In 
the verbal revelation we have imparted to us the change- 
less principles that are to govern our conduct in our rela- 



PRA YER. 295 

tions to our fellow-beings and to God ; precisely as in the 
physical revelation those principles are made known to us 
that must govern our conduct with relation to the physi- 
cal creation. By obedience to the former, precisely as by 
obedience to the latter, our conduct is brought into har- 
ndony with the conduct of God. 

Intelligent prayer for the divine blessing on our conduct 
in every situation and station in life must, then, be a 
prayer, first, for a clear knowledge of the immutable laws 
of conduct, for that complete possession of them, or pos- 
session of ourselves by them, that shall enable us to make 
faithful application of them to all the conditions in which 
w^e find ourselves placed; and then for such' fidelity and 
watchfulness as shall ensure our observance of them in 
every particular, even the least. This must be the 
prayer. And with the prayer, just as in the former case, 
there must be, and there necessarily will be, joined that 
earnest study of those principles of conduct, which will 
enable us to perceive at once their application to every 
case as it arises ; and, united with this study, a ceaseless 
watchfulness, and the faithful doing of every thing that is 
devolved on us to be done. 



THE END. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. 
IN PREPARATION. 

THE SCRIPTURES, 

HEBREW AND CHRISTIAN. 
EDITED AND ARRANGED FOR YOUNG READERS. 

Rev. EDWARD T. BARTLETT, A.M., ^ 

Dean of the Divinity School of the P. E. Church in Philadel- | 
phia, and Mary Wolfe, Prof, of Ecclesiastical History. \^ 

Rev. JOHN P. PETERS, Ph.D., | 

Professor of the Old Testament Literature and Language in the I 
Divinity School of the P. E. Church in Philadelphia. J 

The work is to be completed in three volumes, containing each about 
500 pages. 

Vol. I. will include Hebrew story from the Creation to the time of Nehe- 
miah, as in the Hebrew canon. 

Vol. IL will be devoted to Hebrew poetry and prophecy. 

Vol. in. will contain the selections from the Christian Scriptures. 

The volumes will be handsomely printed in i2mo form, and with an open, 
readable page, not arranged in verses, but paragraphed according to the 
sense of the narrative. 

Each volume will be complete in itself, and will be sold separately at a 
price of about $1.50. 

The first volume is expected to be in readiness before the close of 1885. 

The editors say in their announcement : " Our object is to remove stones 
of stumbling from the path of young readers by presenting Scriptures to them 
in a form as intelligible and as instructive as may be practicable. This plan 
involves some re-arrangement and omissions, before which we have not hesi- 
tated, inasmuch as our proposed work will not claim to be the Bible, but an 
introduction to it. That we may avoid imposing our own interpretation 
upon Holy Writ, it will be our endeavor to make Scripture serve as the 
commentary on Scripture, In the treatment of the Prophets of the Old 
Testament and the Epistles of the New Testament, it will not be practica- 
ble entirely to avoid comment, but no attempt will be made to pronounce 
upon doctrinal questions." 

The first volume will be divided into five parts : 

Part I. — Hebrew Story, from the Beginning to the Time of Saul. 
" II. — The Kingdom of all Israel. 
" III. — Samaria, or the Northern Kingdom. 

*' IV. — JUDAH, from ReHOBOAM TO NeHEMIAH. 

"** V. — Hebrew Laws and Customs. 



PUBLICATIONS OF G. P, PUTNAM'S SONS. 

In the appendix to the first volume, it is proposed to give some extracts 
from the Talmud and translations from contemporary inscriptions of the 
Assyrians and other nations, bearing upon the events of Hebrew history. 

The second volume will comprise selections from the distinctively poetical 
works, such as Psalms, Ruth, Lamentations, Job, and the Wisdom Litera- 
ture, and also such poetical compositions and fragments as are found in the 
historical and prophetical portions of the Old Testament, like The Song of 
the Well in Numbers, The Song of the Sea in Exodus, Deborah's Song, The 
Blessing of Jacob, etc. 

It will also contain the selections from the prophecies ; grouped, as far as 
possible, around the persons of the individual prophets, telling the story of 
the prophet by and with his prophecies. As an appendix to this volume will 
be added a section covering the history and intellectual development of the 
period intervening between Malachi and Jesus. 

The third volume will comprise the selections from the New Testament, 
arranged as follows : 

I. — The Gospel according to St. Mark, Presenting the Evan- 
gelical Story in its Simplest Form ; Supplemented by 
Selections from St. Matthew and St. Luke. 
II. — The Acts of the Apostles, with some Indication of the 
Probable Place of the Epistles in the Narrative. 
III. — The Epistles of St. James, and the First Epistle of St. Peter. 
IV. — The Epistles of St. Paul. 

V. — The Epistle to the Hebrews. 
VI. — The Revelation of St. John (A Portion). 
VII. — The First Epistle of St. John. 
VIII. — The Gospel of St. John. 

Full details of the plan of the undertaking, and of the methods adopted 
by the editors in the selection and arrangement of the material, will be found 
in the separate prospectus. 



" I am very favorably impressed with the plan of the Scriptures for Young 
People, and I think such a work will be well suited for gaining the attention 
of the young, and to render the study of the Bible more interesting and in- 
structive." Rt. Rev. ALFRED LEE, 

Presiding Bishop of the P. E. Church. 

G. P. PUTNAM'S SONS. Publishers, 
New York and London. 



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